Trade secrets are an essential component for businesses to protect confidential information which provide them a competitive edge. They are broad in scope and unlimited in time but reasonable steps need be taken to keep them from being revealed. [...]
With the new advances in technology in the digital landscape, the expansion of virtual marketplaces and fresh business models are reshaping the copyright system. As a result, many aspects of copyright, including legislation, enforcement and the types of cooperation used, need to be adapted. Faced with a challenging environment, IP Key China has continuously explored and implemented a variety of cooperation practices. It achieves this with the participation of multiple stakeholders, who respond positively to EU copyright holders in the Chinese market. [...]
In business, politics and society as a whole, we can only reach our full potential if we use all of our diversity. Using only half of the population, half of the ideas is not good enough. International Women’s Day is a chance to celebrate achievements and look at the road ahead. We still have a long way to go: statistics from the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) show that, women’s share in international patent applications was 16.5% in 2021. Women inventors matter, unfortunately inequalities persist. [...]
In December 2021, IP Key China, in partnership with its Chinese stakeholders and with the support of the EU Delegation to China, organised the EU-China Forum on Criminal IP Enforcement (1-2 December) and the EU-China Conference on IPR Protection Online & Innovation (9 December). [...]
The 24th meeting of the EU-China IP Working Group was held during the week of 31 May 2021 in Beijing and online. Established in 2005 at the EU-China Summit, the group was set up to support the EU-China IP Dialogue. This year’s session was co-chaired by DG Trade (European Commission) and MOFCOM, and supported by IP Key China. Industry participants and representatives of the European Union’s small and medium-sized enterprises had a chance to raise awareness about the issues they face. [...]
To successfully protect IP in target markets, SMEs should be prepared to enforce their rights. Ultimately, only enforcement of IP rights can halt the infringements. Furthermore, in some countries such as China, if an SME builds a reputation for being litigious then malicious companies might be less likely to infringe their rights in the future. As IP is territorial, only rights that are registered in target markets can be enforced there. [...]
As of today, the 19 May 2021, TMview will include trade mark data made available by the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA), taking the total number of trade marks in the search tool from 62 to over 90 million from 75 participating IP Offices. [...]
Identifying and registering IP in target markets is the first step in developing a comprehensive IP protection strategy. For SMEs to be successful in their target markets, a structured IP protection approach must take into account the particularities of the legal framework in target markets as well as the nature of SME’s intangible assets and available resources. For example, in case the SME’s product has a long-life cycle and it is not easily reverse-engineered, trade secret protection can be preferable to patent protection. [...]
Registering IP is an important part of launching your products on new markets, since lack of IP protection can have a negative impact on SMEs’ business competitiveness and resilience. As IP is territorial, the IP rights that EU SMEs enjoy at home do not automatically extend to other markets, unless specifically registered there. Thus, SMEs should identify the core IP they own and consider registering it in the countries and territories they plan to do business in/with. [...]
Innovation is a key source of growth, and protection of Intellectual Property (IP) has always been the driving force of innovation. The European Union (EU), as global leader in green and digital technologies, has been taking measures to incentivise EU SMEs to make use of the full potential of IP and put them on the right track towards economic recovery. [...]