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.

PRESS RELEASE ON BEHALF OF THE EUROPEAN UNION DELEGATION

EU and China commit to tackle online counterfeiting

The 18th meeting of the EU-China IP Working Group was held in support of the EU-China IP Dialogue on Tuesday 31st May 2016 at MOFCOM in Beijing, China.  Co-chaired by Mr Fernando Perreau de Pinninck, recently appointed as the Head of Unit, DG Trade, European Commission  and Mr Chen Fuli, Deputy Director  General, Treaty and Law Department, MOFCOM.

China and most EU member states are countries of civil law system therefore they share commonalities to a large degree in their intellectual property legislation and judicial adjudication practices.  IP Key project is organising a study visit on court organisation, management and efficiency. 10 Chinese judges will visit three EU member states (Germany, France and Italy) from 20-29 June, 2016.  The Chinese delegation is composed of judges from the SPC, Beijing IP Court, Shanghai IP Court, Guangzhou IP Court and two provincial high courts.

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

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:

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. 

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.