China Strategies Guide 2024

31 August 2024

Navigating China's IP landscape requires strategic foresight and expert guidance. Whether you're interested in patent prosecution deferment, trademark infringement defenses, or AI clauses in publishing, Asia IP's China Strategies Guide 2024 offers authoritative advice from leading experts. Access the latest developments and practical strategies to protect your IP assets and optimize your approach in this dynamic market.

ByteDance web novel platform’s AI clause sparks author outrage

Recently, an online protest erupted against ByteDance’s web novel platform, Fanqie Novel, due to the addition of an “AI Training Supplement Agreement” to its signing agreements. This new clause requires authors to agree to allow their works to be used by the platform’s AI for content development. The protest has spread across platforms like Weibo, with over 18 million views, and Xiaohongshu (China’s equivalents of Twitter and Instagram).

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Amendments to claims in patent invalidation procedures

Requirements for amending patent claims in invalidation procedures in China remain strict. Only the claims of an invention or utility model patent can be amended. Xiao Ning, Mingzhao Yang and Xia Zheng examine the requirements for amending such claims and discuss several recent cases from the Supreme People’s Court.

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Maximizing the effectiveness of the fair use defense in trademark infringement litigation

As the fair use defense increases in Chinese trademark litigation, observers are also seeing more positives from its practice. Bin Zhang and Lei Fu explain how the defense plays a role in protecting the rights and interests of consumers, promoting market competition and upholding the principle of fairness.

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How do the Olympic Organizing Committee and gold medalists protect international trademarks?

Protecting the Olympic trademarks was once a job for the organizing committee alone, but these days, top athletes are also registering themselves in multiple classes. Vincent Su takes a stroll through the Paris Olympics to reveal some little-known and surprising trademark secrets.

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Legal protection of commodity packaging and decoration in China

The packaging and decoration of products is a sharp weapon for enterprises to explore the market, participate in fierce competition and improve their popularity. Grace Guo explains why enterprises should be ready to use all available legal weapons, and discusses the four protection modes for commodity packaging and decoration in China.

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Patent invalidation and patent administrative litigation procedures in China

As China increases its efforts to protect intellectual property rights, both domestic and overseas patent owners are increasingly protecting their inventions by instituting legal proceedings of infringement in order to gain a leading competitive advantage in market economic activities. Honggui Cai shares his advice on how to obtain a favourable examination decision.

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As China’s economy has evolved, there have been different opinions as to whether OEM manufacturing and processing constitutes “use” in the meaning of China’s trademark law and, therefore, the infringement of the trademark. Ray Zhao examines the history of foreign-related OEM in China.

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Strategic analysis of trademark protection in the consumer goods industry

In the consumer goods sector, trademarks are pivotal to brand identity, reflecting a company’s image and credibility and directly influencing consumer purchasing decisions. Robert Chan explains how effective trademark protection can prevent unauthorized use of identical or similar marks, reduce market confusion and safeguard legal rights.

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