The IP Key Project and China’s Ministry of Agriculture (MoA) and State Forestry Administration (SFA) are holding a Stakeholder roundtable on feasibility of China’s accession to UPOV ‘91 on May 31st 2016 at the Ministry of Agriculture’s headquarters in Beijing. The roundtable is one part of ongoing research for a feasibility study on China’s potential accession to UPOV ‘91 that IP Key is facilitating for a team of Chinese researchers selected by the MoA and SFA.

The European Chamber, South China Chapter and Consulates General of EU Member States in Guangzhou, with support from the EU Delegation to China and IP Key Project, are pleased to invite you to a seminar focusing on Customs enforcement of IP in e-commerce.

Customs enforcement of IP in e-commerce

Seminar and cocktail reception,

Keynote address by HE Hans-Dietmar Schweisgut, Ambassador of the European Union to China

On June 2nd, 2016 in Beijing, the EU Delegation to China and Mongolia and the Ministry of Commerce of China, with the technical and logistical support of the IP Key Action, hosted a full day event to talk about business solutions to the infringement of Intellectual Property Rights on e-commerce.

The European Commission and MOFCOM have long called for “reinforced cooperation”as well as committed to jointly work together towards finding sustainable solutions to the problem of IP counterfeiting online.

In the context of the EU-China Action Plan (2014-2017) on IPR Customs Enforcement, IP Key co-organised (together with DG TAXUD and GACC) the 4th Working Group (WG) Meeting in Ningbo, China, from May 24 to 26, 2016. The Action Plan sets out five Key Actions (KAs) to strengthen customs enforcement in the fight against the trade in IPR infringing goods. 

Over 500 people attended the 5 half-day Trade mark strategy conferences in Chengdu, Qingdao, Shenzhen, Tianjin and Wuhan organised by IP Key between 1-8 June. The purpose of the trade mark IP strategy conference is to support Chinese companies and legal representatives on IP issues as they internationalise their business.

Two videos were launched during the conference highlighting how to use TMview and TMclass for pre and post registration strategy. The video can be viewed in the following links:

2015 marked the 10th anniversary of the EU-China IP Dialogue Mechanism, with that in mind the European Chamber of Commerce in China recognised China’s most IP-friendly regions, with an IP Awards Ceremony and conference which took place on the 30th March 2016.

The European Chamber, and in particular Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) Working Group, defined five evaluation indicators which made up the award categories:

OHIM is now known as the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO), the Community trade mark is now called the European Union trade mark. With this amendment there are also revisions of  the fees payable to the Office, including an overall reduction in their amounts, particularly in the case of trade mark renewal fees. The Office’s online application forms and fee calculator have been automatically updated to reflect the new system.

On June 23 and 24 the European Commission and the State Administration for Industry & Commerce partnered in a two-day expert roundtable that  featured Chinese and EU experts’ discussions on major issues in the protection of trademark and Geographical Indications. The event was hosted at SAIC premises in Beijing and focused – in particular - on the challenges encountered by examiners in adjudicating oppositions and invalidations of trademarks filed in “bad-faith”.

Between May 9 and 17, 2016 IP Key organised a set of peer to peer exchanges for a delegation of 12 officials of the Legislative Affairs Commission at the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress (in short, LAC), that traveled to Belgium, Finland and Sweden.

The Chinese official delegation was led by the Director of the Civil Law Department and vice-headed by the Director of the Economic Law Department of the LAC.

In the context of the EU-China Action Plan (2014-2017) on IPR Customs Enforcement, IP Key is going to co-organise an event on cross-agency cooperation on the investigation of serious IP infringement cases in Alicante, Spain from 24 to 26 February 2016. The aim of the event is to strengthen EU-China interaction and cooperation between customs and other law enforcement agencies and authorities to stop production and wind up distribution networks.