CHINA INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY LAW NEWSLETTER
Vol. 4 , No. 5 - April 8, 2003
VISIT LLX AT INTA INTA 125th Annual Meeting 2003
May 3 - 7 in Amsterdam
RAI International Exhibition & Congress Centre LEHMAN, LEE & XU welcomes you to participate in the following: 3rd ANNUAL CHINA BRAND OWNERS BRUNCH - May 4, 11:00am to 2:00pm at the Nam Tin Chinese restaurant, Amsterdam. Start the 125th INTA Annual Meeting by experiencing Chinese hospitality at its finest. Hosted by LEHMAN, LEE & XU, we hope that this year's Sunday brunch will once again provide for a relaxing forum to learn more about China brand owners and discuss IP issues. If you would like to attend, please send email to inta@lehmanlaw.com or fax to +8610 8532-1999. LEHMAN, LEE & XU BOOTH - Exhibit Area, Booths V17 & V19. Visit with representatives of LEHMAN, LEE & XU and other Chinese brand owners. On display will be general literature on China trademark law, Q&As on China trademark registration, IP enforcement strategies and more. NAM TIN Chinese Restaurant Jodenbreestraat 11
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TOPICS THIS ISSUE:
- Hong Kong's New Trade Marks Ordinance Comes Into Force
- Olympic Symbols Receive Protection
- Atypical Masks For Atypical Pneumonia
- Cisco Continues To Press Patent Claim Against Chinese Firm
Hong Kong's New Trade Marks Ordinance Comes Into Force
The government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region announced the enforcement of the new Trade Marks Ordinance last week.
According to Stephen Selby, the director of intellectual property, the new ordinance would replace the existing Trade Marks Ordinance which was enacted in the 1950s. He said that the new ordinance would create a better business environment for Hong Kong and provide better protection for trade marks.
The new Trade Marks Ordinance simplifies the registration procedure of trade marks, substantially reduce costs for trade marks registration, increase the range of signs that can be registered as marks to allow sound and smell marks to be registered. It also simplifies the licensing and assignment procedures for trade marks and provide increased protection for trade marks.
In support of the government's drive to promote e-commerce, the Intellectual Property Department introduced an online trade marks search facility earlier this year. The system contains all registered trade marks and trade mark applications in force on the Hong Kong Register of Trade Marks. The online filing of applications for trade marks will be available at the end of this year.
This is the first of a series of initiatives by the department to launch e-business transactions. The online search of patents and registered designs database and the related e-filing will also come on stream by the end of this year.
(Source: Xinhua News Agency)
Olympic Symbols Receive Protection
China has stepped up efforts to guard the intellectual property rights of the Olympic symbols and slogans in the past year with a special regulation promulgated by the State Council.
According Xu Yulin, the deputy director of the Office of Legislative under the State Council, the achievements in this regard have been made with the efforts of the Beijing Organizing Committee for the 2008 Olympic Games (BOCOG), China Olympic Committee, the General Administration of Customs and the industrial and commerce departments. Xu also urged relative authorities to continue to strictly punish those who illegally produce goods bearing Olympic symbols, especially after BOCOG releases the emblem for the 2008 Games in May, along with the market development plan.
Olympic symbols include the Olympic five-ring symbol and flag, names of formal Olympics-related issues and slogans of the 2008 Olympics such as "New Beijing, Great Olympics" and "Beijing 2008."
According to Li Dongsheng, the deputy director of the State Administration of Industry and Commerce, more than 130,000 goods with unauthorized Olympic symbols were confiscated by the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Industry and Commerce last April. In addition thereto, some 112 advertising boards illegally using the slogan "New Beijing, Great Olympics," which was created for Beijing's 2008 Olympic bid were ordered to be changed.
An official with the General Administration of Customs said that customs officials around the country have also intercepted about 30 shipments of goods for export illegally using the Olympic symbols over the past year.
Illegal export goods involved clothing, sports goods, light industrial products and textile goods.
According to the customs official many manufacturers are merely following orders from foreign clients to apply Olympic symbols on the goods. Thus it is difficult to balance protection of Olympics-related intellectual property rights with the interests of domestic manufacturing companies.
The official with the State Intellectual Property Office said that China is one of the few countries that have issued special regulations to protect Olympic slogans.
(Source: China Daily)
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Atypical Masks For Atypical Pneumonia
It may not have the morbid undertones of the Ebola virus, but the World Health Organization (WHO) has issued a global travel advisory because of the mystery pneumonia, SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome). SARS is an atypical pneumonia of unknown cause, and the WHO is co-ordinating an international investigation with the assistance of the Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network in order to identify the cause of the sickness and potential cures.
SARS is thought to have originated in southern China, but once it found its way into Hong Kong, a global travel node and Asia's world city, it has spread quickly across the world. The concern is that as the virus has an incubation period of up to seven days before affecting carriers, there is a time bomb to an explosion of cases. Many governments have issued travel warnings, and some have implemented draconian quarantine measures for suspected cases.
Meanwhile, at the epicentre of the storm, the mystery virus has brought with it a new trend. Walking around the sidewalks and traveling on the subway in Hong Kong and other cities affected by SARS, one can now see a large proportion of the locals wearing protective surgical masks to cover their faces. All of a sudden, the mask has become the latest fashion must-have not out of luxury, but out of necessity.
Reports have been in circulation that designer brand names such as Louis Vuitton and Gucci have come up with designer masks complete with matching protective cases to allow its users to store the masks away safely. The retail price of the designer masks are reported to be HK$1,800 (approximately US$230) each.
Although there are no clear confirmation on these reports, but in China, businessmen are said to be fast picking up the trend. China's factories have been quick to cash on the fever. In Shenzen, one can find fake Burberry masks on sale everywhere. For just RMB10 (US$1.25), one can get a surgical mask with a Burberry check trim and some functional yet rather fetching beige elastic earloops.
In the Philippines, at the Divisoria and San Lazaro markets, cartoon prints like Scooby Doo, among other fun and funky prints, are the rage.
All this consumerism may appear to be frivolous, especially when the war is still going on in Iraq and the outbreak of SARS affecting the major part of the economy in Asia, but it does emphasize the breathtaking speed at which the fashion industry reacts to the latest news and trends. However, it should be pointed out that these designer creations do not meet WHO standards for filtering out particles the size of 0.3 microns. No one is sure how big the droplet causing SARS is, so better to wear the designer mask if you have one over the N95 surgical mask.
(Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer)
Cisco Continues To Press Patent Claim Against Chinese Firm
In a continuing story, Cisco Systems argued in a court filing recently that rival China-based Huawei Technologies is still selling products made using Cisco's source code. It was reported that Cisco has sued Huawei, China's biggest Internet equipment maker, for patent infringement. Huawei recently admitted in a court filing that some if its products used Cisco's software codes, but Huawei pledged that it would stop selling those products in the United States. However, according to Cisco, Huawei is still selling the infringing products through Huawei's Chinese Web site, and Cisco charged that Huawei has not fully removed Cisco's code from its products but has simply turned it off. In the statement filed in court, Cisco alleged that the false identification must result from Huawei having copied Cisco's DLSw protocol source code, unless Huawei deliberately programmed its routers to identify themselves as having been manufactured by Cisco. Huawei officials could not be reached for comment.
(Source: National Journal's Technology Daily)
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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.
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