For a long time China used to be a safe haven for copycats, the Wild West of Intellectual Property (IP). That reputation no longer fits, as China has started to take IP protection seriously.
When it comes to IP, the situation in China is changing extremely quickly. This has everything to do with the country’s rapid development. Its industries are making major leaps forward in the field of innovation, as a result of which Chinese inventors have now also started to protect their rights. On top of that, the country's age-old copycat reputation is frightening off international investors, so China wants to shake off that reputation fast.
Tremendous boost
The fact that China is serious about this is evident from the establishment of three new courts in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou that are specialised in Intellectual Property. This is giving a tremendous boost to the professionalism, speed, reliability and efficiency of the administration of justice in China when it comes to IP. Until recently the impartiality of local judges may have been questionable. The professional judges of the three new courts are a lot less dependent on local ties. This increases the possibilities for European companies to claim rights in China.
In public
The Chinese court system is already processing more than 100,000 IP cases a year. Around ten percent of these are being heard by the three new courts. Major IP lawsuits are fought in public, so knowledge of IP, patents, rights and infringement is spreading through society. China is steadily falling into step with the rest of the world.
Do you homework
If you want to successfully hold a Chinese company to account for infringement, it is vitally important that you carefully do your homework. Compliance with all formalities is an absolute must and an eloquent local lawyer is invaluable. In addition, it is worthwhile registering your rights with the customs authorities. In return for a small fee they will then inform you when they come across any items that infringe your rights.
Utility models
Finally, it is useful to make use of utility models. This quick and cheap variant on a patent deters infringers and is a right that is just as effective as a patent. French electronics firm Schneider learned this the hard way when it tried to bring an improved version of the circuit breaker onto the market. This new variant had been protected by a utility model by one of its competitors, the CHINT group. Schneider had to pay a record sum of fifty million US dollars in damages to the Chinese manufacturer, who had made smart use of the Chinese utility model. Western companies can take advantage of this, too. Not everything can be protected by utility models, but we would be more than happy to advise you on this issue.
