CHINA INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY LAW NEWSLETTER
Vol. 3 , No. 8 - June 25, 2002
TOPICS THIS ISSUE:
- Taiwan Firms Urged to Register Trademarks in Mainland China
- Hong Kong Customs Launches New Scheme to Combat Pirated Software
- Sony Chief's Warning to US Broadband Industry
- Former TSMC Employee on the Run
- Omron to Sell Unused Patents in U.S.
- Take Hong Kong Laws as Model, Urges Head of the Business Software Alliance
Taiwan Firms Urged to Register Trademarks in Mainland China
The Intellectual Property Office (IPO) under the administration of the Ministry of Economic Affairs recently announced that Taiwan manufacturers wishing or preparing to enter the Mainland China market should register their trademarks with the mainland authorities as soon as possible.
IPO officials cited Taiwan's Tobacco & Wine Bureau (TTWB) registered "Long Life" branded cigarettes as an example for registering with mainland authorities. Despite "Long Life" being registered with the Taiwan Tobacco & Wine Bureau in 1982, the trademark registered in Taiwan is only effective where Taiwan's law applies. As a mainland tobacco company has already registered the name in China, TTWB cannot sell its "Long Life" brand products in China without infringing on the trademark.
The officials said that the TTWB could ask the mainland reviewing authority to revoke the mainland company's registration within five years. If the Taiwan brand can meet the reviewing authority's definition of "famous," there is no time limit on requesting revocation. Another option available to TTWB is to purse litigation to seek revocation of the trademarks if the Taiwan manufactures find out that the brands have already been registered in the mainland and they cannot prove that their brands are also widely known in the mainland.
The officials added that with Taiwan and China now being members of the World Trade Organization, trade exchanges between the two sides will become more and more commonplace and problems with trademark registration will begin to emerge, which will have to be addressed squarely.
(Source: Central News Agency)
Hong Kong Customs Launches New Scheme to Combat Pirated Software
Hong Kong Customs has launched a new reward scheme to combat the use of pirated software in business, a Customs official recently announced.
The new scheme, which started mid June will last for three months and encourages members of the public to provide information to Customs that will assist in enforcement actions. According to the ordinance that was put into effect on April 1, 2001, anyone who knowingly uses pirated software in business commits a criminal offense under the amended Copyright Ordinance. The maximum penalty under the ordinance is imprisonment of four years and a fine of HK$ 50,000 HK (US $6,410 U.S.) for each infringing copy.
Meantime, a maximum HK$ 40,000 (US $5,128) reward will be paid to informants where information provided to Customs on the use of pirated software in business results in the seizure of pirated software and a court conviction, the official said.
After the implementation of the new ordinance, many business enterprises have switched to the use of legitimate software, the official said. In fact, some legitimate software was out of stock last year due to the surge in demand, and the decrease in piracy rate in the latest survey by the Business Software Alliance reflected this situation, he added.
(Source: Xinhua)
Sony Chief's Warning to US Broadband Industry
Comments made by the chairman of Sony, Mr. Nobuyuk Idei, indicate Japan and other Asian countries could overtake the US in broadband technology in the next decade if the US government does not formulate a clear broadband strategy and rules for intellectual property protection.
Mr. Idei said, "the American government is today busy fighting against other things" and it appears that it is content to leave the development of the industry to market forces. Nevertheless, such free market policies were not going to help the US become a leader in the new broadband era."
"The role of the government is quite important when technology changes," Mr. Idei said. However, the FCC (the US telecommunications regulator) had so far failed to take any action to draw up rules for new technologies.
The comments highlight the double threat Sony faces from the rise of China and Korea as manufacturing powerhouses and the damage to intellectual property because of the spread of the Internet. Sony owns both a film studio and music recording company in the US and receives more than 30% of its revenues from the US market.
Mr. Idei identified three weaknesses in the US economy:
- America's free market economy has no future plan, direction or structure, which leads to confusion.
- No strategy for broadband
- Lack of a law regulating the free distribution of copyrighted music and pictures over the internet.
If the American government does not take the initiative to make the US a broadband leader, "Japan and Korea and China could be the leaders", Mr. Idei said. Mr. Idei also added, "for the knowledge society, I think that proper intellectual property or copyright protection is an essential factor to compete with countries such as China and Japan." This was partly because Asian cities such as Tokyo, Hong Kong and Shanghai were suited to broadband connection, with a high population concentration in small areas.
(Source: Financial Times (London))
Need to File a Patent or Trademark in China? Contact LLX at mail@chinalaw.cc and click below to download a Power of Attorney: | | |
Former TSMC Employee on the Run
Last year, a female employee of TSMC allegedly stole some of the company's intellectual property relating to 12-inch wafer before departing to work for rival Shanghai-based Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation. TSMC has pursued its case in the courts since January by sued the Shanghai-based employee.
The ability to protect trade secrets in greater China is a rising issue, with few regulations and laws to govern piracy on the mainland. However, the fractured and tense political relationship between Taiwan and the Chinese mainland has only complicates matters, resulting in little recourse for Taiwanese companies such as TSMC if it suffers such violations.
"If she's found guilty here I think we probably won't be able to do anything to her," says Morris Chang, spokesman for TSMC. "But she probably won't be able to come back (to Taiwan). Her roots are here and I would consider that to be a severe penalty" Mr. Chang went on to say.
(Source: Australian Financial Review)
Omron to Sell Unused Patents in U.S.
Recently, control device maker Omron Corp. (Omron), said it will sell its unused patents mainly to U.S. companies in an effort to maximize the value of its intellectual assets.
Omron owns approximately 90,000 patents, some 40 % of which have never been used. Omron will group together there unused patents into business units, including patents it does not expect to have any use for in the future, to sell and hopes to achieve annual sales of over one billion yen in the patents business.
Omron also said it will apply for patents in China for all the technologies whose patents have been applied for in the United States following its decision to establishment a Chinese head office in April that oversees its development, production and sales activities in the country.
Omron is hoping to reinforce protection of its intellectual assets and to uncover rights infringement by aggressively acquiring patents in China.
(Source: Jiji Press Ticker Service)
Take Hong Kong Laws as Model, Urges Head of the Business Software Alliance
Robert Holleyman, president of the influential anti-piracy lobby group, Business Software Alliance (BSA), plans to ask leaders in Greater China to adopt intellectual property laws similar to those in Hong Kong.
Mr. Holleyman said he would ask high-level government officials in Beijing and Taipei to consider the move during his planed visits to these cities. Robert Kruger, a former United States federal prosecutor and now vice -president responsible for enforcement with the BSA, recently said Hong Kong had the best anti-piracy laws and enforcement program in Asia-Pacific.
The Intellectual Property (Miscellaneous Amendments) Bill, which came into effect in Hong Kong on April 1 last year, criminalized the use of pirated software by a business. The Honk Kong administration claims to have now reduced the number of stores selling pirated software by 90% due to its enforcement efforts, and its HK$ 8 million annual budget on anti-piracy education.
There has been some debate on the effectiveness of Hong Kong's anti-piracy efforts, as knock-off software is still readily available in computer malls. According to the BSA's 2001 global report on software piracy, 53% of the software used in Hong Kong was illegally copied, down from 57 per cent in 2000. The mainland had one of the worst piracy rates at 92%, trailing only Vietnam's 94 per cent.
The BSA piracy report prompted Thailand's Deputy Commerce Minister, Newin Chidchob to suggest that software developers who set their prices at flat rates globally without taking the cost of living of each country into consideration, were themselves contributing to high piracy rates.
(Source: South China Morning Post)
China Lawyers, Notaries, Patent, Copyright and Trademark Agents
http://www.lehmanlaw.com
Beijing Office | 6th floor, Dongwai Diplomatic Office Building
23 Dongzhimenwai Dajie
Beijing 100600 China
Tel.: (86)(10) 8532-1919
Fax: (86)(10) 8532-1999
Email: mail@lehmanlaw.com | | Shanghai Office | Suite 5107A, Plaza 66
No. 1266, West Nanjing Road
Shanghai 200040 China
Tel: (86)(21) 6288-2698
Fax:(86)(21) 6288-2699
Email: shanghai@lehmanlaw.com | |
The China Intellectual Property Law Newsletter is intended to be used for news purposes only. It should not be taken as comprehensive legal advice, and Lehman, Lee & Xu will not be held responsible for any such reliance on its contents.
