IPR

---

IPR Protection in China

Patents
The Patent Administration Department in China administers the registration of patents for inventions, unique utility models and designs. Patents protect inventions for a term of 20 years, but may not be granted for scientific discoveries. Apply for registration of your patents in China. The process for registering a Design Patent takes less than one year, registration of a Utility Patent takes approximately 2 years, and an Invention Patent takes approximately 2-3 years.

Trademarks
The Trademark Office of China is responsible for the registration and administration of trademarks. Apply for registration of your trademarks in China. The process takes about two to three years. If available, documents concerning the trademarks examination overseas must be submitted. Afterwards a Chinese confirmation certificate must be obtained, before IPR enforcement action can be taken. The process takes about three months.
Where a trademark is first used for goods in an international exhibition sponsored or recognized by the Chinese Government, the applicant for the registration of the trademark may enjoy a six month priority right. Written claims for this priority should be made when the trademark is filed in China and evidence of such use submitted within 3 months. Failure to do so, it will negate any priority rights. Required documents are a PRC trademark registration certificate and an identity certification of the trademark owner (such as a Business Registration Certificate).

 

Copyrights
The Copyright Administration Department, which is controlled by the State Council, is responsible for the nationwide administration of copyrights. China is a member of the Berne Convention. Any copyright from Berne Convention countries will be automatically protected in China. Check to see if this applies to you. However, before direct IPR enforcement can be based on copyright at exhibitions, a record of the copyright is necessary. The process in China takes about one month. The safety measures for intellectual rights should include multiple ways for saving its innovations effectively. Knowing the Chinese market, its products, players and possibilities can prevent companies from bad surprises of innovation piracy.

Protection strategies within the market
Find the right mixture of price and requested quality for the Chinese market. Find the right combination of imported parts and parts from local suppliers. Then the product price package can hardly be copied or improved. Work together with bigger international companies or Chinese partners, share innovations and strengthen the ties within the local network. Beneficial companies depend on their supporters and know about the chances and dangers on the Chinese market. Develop innovations together with Chinese companies or share the development costs for company owned innovations with them. This will cause shared interests as well as positive dependency and trust.

Active protection strategies within the product and during its presentation at exhibitions:
Design your exhibition booth appropriately and if necessary install an IPR notice in several languages.

Create and sell unique designs and product concepts that are composites of many different components and for that can' t be copied easily.

Don' t install decisive machine parts openly or let them lay around.

Don' t let construction plans lay around and don' t give them out to suppliers. If really necessary, produce know how components outside of China and bring them to China for the finishing.

The information about Intellectual Property issues in this paragraph should not be regarded as professional legal advice. Clients should not act upon this information without seeking a competent legal counsel. Sources for this paragraphs' content are Reed Exhibition Practical Guide to IPR Protection as well as selected interviews and articles on http://www.maschinenmarkt.vogel.de.

Reed Exhibitions China is pleased to announce that Reed Exhibitions China and S&F
have agreed to cooperate to provide advice to our clients on the topic of IPR. Should you require any advice please contact S&F. Please refer to Reed Exhibitions and the event that you are participating in and your first consultation will be free of charge. If you are a client of Reed Exhibitions exhibiting in one of our events in China then you will also enjoy a 15% discount on any further advice you may receive from S&F. This is a free service provided by Reed Exhibitions to assist our clients in dealing with IPR issues. Reed Exhibitions will NOT assume any legal responsibility or otherwise for the advice provided by S&F.

S&F Contact

Beijing                                                                                    Shanghai

Mr. Edouard Schmitt zur Höhe / Ms. Hester Qiu             Ms. Chris Li

Email: edouard@sflaw.cn / hester@sflaw.cn                Email: chris@sflaw.cn

Telephone: +86 (0)10 6400 2173                                     Tel: +86(0)21 -6323 2619

Fax: +86 (0)10 6400 2305                                                  Tel: +86(0)21 -6323 2629

 

Contact in Macau                                                  Contact in Hong Kong

DSL Lawyers                                                                           Stephenson Harwood

Mr. Carlos D. Simões                                                             Ms. Chloe Lee

Email: cdsimoes@dsl-lawyers.com                                  Email: ip@shlegal.com

Tel: +(853) 2822 3355                                                           Tel: +(852) 2868 0789

Tel: +(853) 2872 5588                                                           Tel: +(852) 3150 53877

(Size 4MB) Click here to download Practical Guide to Intellectual Property Rights Protection of Reed Exhibitions