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Did Dunhill score big in China litigation case?

By Ai-Leen Lim | Posted on February 1, 2019

In October 2018, UK luxury goods brand Dunhill announced that it had won a trademark battle against Chinese menswear brand Danhouli. The Foshan Intermediate People’s Court in Guangdong Province awarded Dunhill Rmb10 million (approximately $1.5 million) in an infringement case involving its well-known mark. The court also determined that Danhouli was guilty of unfair competition...

Tags: brands, china, Infringement, Litigation, Trademark, unfair competition

China’s innovation rise – patent landscape review and outlook

By Ai-Leen Lim | Posted on October 18, 2018

For the first time in 11 years China broke into the world’s top 20 most innovative economies in the Global Innovation Index for 2018. The report – which was jointly published by Cornell University, INSEAD and the World Intellectual Property Organisation – annually ranks 126 economies based on 80 indicators. China’s number 17 ranking is...

Tags: china, Innovation, Intellectual Property, patents

Creating an effective FinTech IP strategy

By Ai-Leen Lim | Posted on October 10, 2018

AWA Asia’s IP strategy and patent team in Beijing looks at the China FinTech market, discusses available IP protection mechanisms and considers how revised guidelines could provide opportunities to protect technology in this rapidly developing sector What is FinTech? The term financial technology or FinTech refers to businesses that utilise technology to create financial services...

Tags: Asia, awa asia, Branding, china, copyright, design patents, fintech, Intellectual Property, managing ip

Rush to register French football star Mbappé’s name highlights China’s rampant trademark squatting problem

By Ai-Leen Lim | Posted on September 7, 2018

The 2018 FIFA World Cup ended with France being victorious and a new star player emerging among the winning team – young footballer Kylian Mbappé Following the 1 July match against Argentina, during which Mbappé scored two goals, a staggering 169 trademark applications were filed as several Chinese companies and individuals applied to trademark his name....

Tags: china, FIFA, Football, Intellectual Property, Mbappé, trademarks, World Cup 2018

Why the authorities are taking a tougher stance on trademark infringement in the food industry

By Ai-Leen Lim | Posted on April 4, 2018

Thirteen defendants have been criminally prosecuted in Shanghai for selling goods under illegally manufactured labels, reinforcing the tough stance that the authorities have been taking in counterfeit food cases. The cases On January 11 2018, the Intellectual Property Trial Division of Shanghai Pudong New Area People’s Court delivered judgment in six cases involving trademarks for...

Tags: china, criminal prosecution, fruit, Infringement, labels, Trademark, trademark infringement

A more efficient trademark application process in China? 13 new Trademark Application and Service centers opened.

By AWA | Posted on November 8, 2016

China’s State Administration of Industry and Commerce (SAIC), which also administers the China Trademark Office and all trademark applications in China, is on a reform path and is putting efforts into facilitating trademark registrations across China’s provinces and lower tier cities and spreading the work outside of Beijing. The need for reform is a result...

Tags: Application, awa asia, china, China Trademark Office, SAIC, trademarks

New hope for trademark owners in China

By AWA | Posted on September 3, 2015

In China, the trademark system is based on the “first-to-file” system, which means that the first company or person to file owns the legal right to the trademark. There is no requirement for the intention to actually use the mark as we know it from a.o. the US system. Up until now the so called...

Tags: china, Chinese Trademark Review and Adjudication Board, Michael Bastian, TRAB, Trademark, Trademark Squatters

New IP courts major step forward in China’s judicial reforms

By Ai-Leen Lim | Posted on March 24, 2015

In November and December 2014, China announced the long awaited establishment of three specialized IP courts in the Tier 1 cities of Beijing, Guangzhou and Shanghai. These courts are empowered to hear the following cases: First instance civil and administrative cases related to patents, new plant varieties, layout design of integrated circuit, technological secrets and...

Tags: Asia, china, IP court

Recent contributors

Laura Stravinskaite

Laura Stravinskaite

Senior Associate, Attorney at Law

Ai-Leen Lim

Ai-Leen Lim

Partner, Attorney at Law, Group Vice President

Ashley Zhao

Ashley Zhao

Partner, Attorney at Law, Business Area Manager

Troels Peter Rørdam

Troels Peter Rørdam

Senior Counsel, European Patent Attorney

Mikkel Roed Trier

Mikkel Roed Trier

Partner, European Patent Attorney, UPC Representative, Business Area Manager