CHINA INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY LAW NEWSLETTER
Vol. 3 , No. 9 - July 9, 2002
TOPICS THIS ISSUE:
- China Accounts for 30% of Counterfeit Japanese Goods
- Fake Harry Potter Book Hits
- Japan's Automakers Unite to Sue Chinese Fake Car Part Makers
- CK Life Sciences - Products Distinct from those of GP Holdings
- Shop Till You Drop in Shenzhen
- Hutchison Pins Hopes on 3 Brand
China Accounts for 30% of Counterfeit Japanese Goods
According to a survey recently released by the Japanese Patent Office, roughly 33% of all the imitations of Japanese goods in 2000 were made in China. China topped the list at 33%, next came South Korea at 18.1% and then Taiwan at 17.6%.
The share of counterfeit Japanese products from Taiwan is shrinking and that from South Korea is leveling off, the Patent Office reports. The share from China, however, is on the rise.
The Patent Office targeted about 8,100 companies that applied to the office for patents or utility models over a five-year period through 2000. Responses were received from 1,521 firms.
(Source: Asia Pulse)
Fake Harry Potter Book Hits
The latest Harry Potter book has hit Chinese streets. Chinese fans of the British boy wizard with the lightning-bolt scar on his forehead are snapping up the fifth book in the wildly popular series.
There's just one problem. It's fake - written by a Chinese author for a Chinese audience. The 198-page book - titled "Harry Potter and Leopard-Walk-Up-To-Dragon" has the name and biography of British author J.K. Rowling on its cover but the tale in which Harry turns into a hairy dwarf after a "sour-sweet rain" is the unauthorized work of an anonymous author.
"We have not found who wrote the book or where they come from," said Zhang Deguang of the People's Literature Publishing House, which has the series' publishing rights in China. "It's made a negative impact on our book sales."
Rowling is at work on the real fifth installment, which is not expected to be finished before the end of this year. Rowling's agent, the Christopher Little Literary Agency in London, said it was aware of the fake Chinese Harry. A spokeswoman who asked not to be identified refused to comment by telephone, but sent The Associated Press an e-mail saying, "We are taking this issue extremely seriously."
It was unclear what punishment the "fake" author could face, given the uniqueness of the situation. However, China's government has promised repeatedly to crack down on counterfeiters and intellectual property theft.
Harry Potter - "Ha-li Bo-te" in Mandarin - has had authorized translations into 18 languages. Publication of the genuine Harry Potter - a boxed set of the four books to date - was a major literary event in China. The first printing was 600,000 copies, which the publisher said was the biggest of its kind ever in China for a commercial work.
Zhang said the People's Literature Publishing House has found copies of the unauthorized Harry in wholesale markets and private bookstores throughout Beijing. One unidentified bookseller told The Beijing Youth Daily that nine out of her 10 copies were sold in a matter of days. Most booksellers visited by reporters on Friday denied having copies. They said police threatened to fine them 10 times the US$ 2.80 price if any copies were found.
(Source: Associated Press Online)
Japan's Automakers Unite to Sue Chinese Fake Car Part Makers
Japanese carmakers are planning to unite to initiate criminal proceedings against Chinese companies manufacturing fake car parts, accusing them of copyright infringement.
Twelve such incidents of copyright infringement are known to have occurred in China's motoring industry in the first half of the year, said an undisclosed source. These copyright infringements involved the production in Nanhai city, in southern China's Guangdong Province, of automobile glass and back mirrors carrying fake brand names belonging to a number of Japanese automobile makers, including Nissan Motor Co. and Toyota Motor Corp.
Among 3,000 glass panels in one warehouse, 959 were confiscated after they were found to be imitations. It is difficult to ascertain what degree of losses the imitation products have caused Japanese automobile manufacturers, which have been producing car parts in China since 1990.
(Source: Japan Economic Newswire)
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CK Life Sciences - Products Distinct from those of GP Holdings
CK Life Sciences International (Holdings) Ltd (CK) said its products are distinct and do not constitute an infringement of the intellectual property rights of GP Holdings (GP).
In a statement, CK said the principal component of its products is yeast and its products do not use bacteria. In addition, the yeasts in its products are not genetically modified and the methods and processes it uses are different from those of GP.
CK said it reserves the right to take all necessary action over allegations made by GP on alleged intellectual property rights infringement. GP has alleged that CK Life Sciences' chief scientist Larry Cheung Ling-yuk used the company's technology to develop fertilizer products.
The fertilizer, under the trademark of GeoPower TLB, was developed by Cheung before he joined CK Life Sciences from GP. GP claimed that Cheung has yet to resign as a director of the company and is still a shareholder.
(Source: AFX)
Shop Till You Drop in Shenzhen
Shenzhen is fast becoming the place to shop because it is much cheaper than Hong Kong.
Crossing from Hong Kong into Shenzhen is like strolling into a shopper's paradise, with everything from noodles to fake Cartier wristwatches costing a faction of what they do in Hong Kong.
Located in the southern Guangdong province, on the border with Hong Kong, Shenzhen has transformed itself from an economic backwater to one of China's most prosperous cities in less than two decades.
The bustling city is renowned for its cheap prices and canny travelers frequently make side trips from Hong Kong to pick up the bargains. Besides Hong Kong people, Japanese, Korean, Taiwanese and Thais are among the city's most frequent visitors, according to Shenzhen tourism officials.
One of Shenzhen's busiest shopping areas sits just beyond Hong Kong and Chinese immigration desks. "At shops selling bags, you can ask the owner to find for you a fake Rolex and you will have what you want in a few minutes," said a Thai travel guide based in Hong Kong.
How to bargain? The Thai tour guide said you could often go as low as a quarter of the asking price. But if you cannot agree a price, the tour guide suggests that shoppers walk away slowly. "If you hurry off, the shop owners will be unable to catch up with you to agree on the price," he said.
Hong Kong customs officials paid less attention to the shoppers coming back from Shenzhen with loads of bags, the Thai tour guide added.
However, shop owners in Shenzhen said that things had begun to change as officials start to crack down on intellectual property rights infringements. China has become more concerned about copyright laws since its entry into the World Trade Organization last year. "Now we can show only a sample of items on the counter. The police are much more stringent. If we get caught, we'll be fined RMB 5,000 per fake item," said one Shenzhen shop owner.
(Source: The Nation (Thailand))
Hutchison Pins Hopes on 3 Brand
Hutchison Whampao has great expectations with 3, a global trademark for its third-general (3G) mobile service to be launched later this year.
Hutchinson, the originators of Orange Telecommunications, has reinvested the HK$ 140 billion received from its sale into the establishment of 3G in nine countries. In explaining why Hutchinson chose 3 as its brand name, group-managing director Canning Fok Kin-ning said, "the most important this is that it is easy to remember. We now have a brand that will allow us to go anywhere in the world."
In the upcoming launch of 3G, probably before November of this year, Hutchison will provide video applications on a wireless devise that could be transmitted at 384 kilobits per second. Mr Fok said the company is confidant that it does not need to subsidize its users, although it has planned to offer subsidies under its business plan. "We can make a lot of money by selling the handsets alone," Mr Fok said.
According to Hutchison's Marketing Department, it has budgeted an estimated HK $360 million for the international marketing of 3. While other European telecommunication carriers delay their launch of 3G technology due to heavy debt, Mr. Fok affirmed Hutchinson's commitment to 3G technology, saying the company had no aspiration to acquire non-3G operations.
(Source: scmp.com)
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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.
