Author Archives: Dr. Danny Friedmann

Taiwan’s Exciting 2007: IP Case Proceeding, IP Court and Patent Attorney Acts

Tsai Lee & Chen describes 2007 as “exciting for IP professionals in Taiwan”. In the course of merely six months, the Legislative Yuan (Taiwan’s Congress) has passed three important laws and regulations related to the protection and enforcement of intellectual … Continue reading

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Preferring Price Discrimination Over Sidestepping Patents?

Andrew Jack of the Financial Times wrote an article about discussions between 500 representatives of government, industry and NGO’s about patents at the World Health Organisation. The article, which is named ‘Pressure over patents forces pharma on to the back … Continue reading

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Mr Schwabach’s Essay Debunks Perception IP Piracy in China, But Remains Silent About IP Infringements In/From China

Aaron Schwabach wrote an well written and interesting essay called ‘Intellectual Property Piracy: Perception and Reality in China, the United States, and Elsewhere’. Find the pdf here. Mr Schwabach starts with the quote: “There is probably more misinformation about China … Continue reading

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Daniel Chow: Link Between Counterfeiting and Organised Crime

Jeffrey Sheban wrote a good article entitled ‘In the land of counterfeit’ for The Columbus Dispatch in which the link between counterfeiting and organised crime is suggested. He quotes Ohio State University law professor Mr Daniel C.K. Chow, who spent … Continue reading

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What Has Labour Contract Law in China to do with IP?

According to article 39 TRIPs undisclosed information, including trade secrets, shall be protected by the WTO members, including China. Now Steven Dickenson of the prolific China Law Blog wrote an article for China International Business about China’s new labour contract … Continue reading

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Gregory Lions About Fakes: Fashion Brands Have Asked For It

Mr Gregory Lions, a former financial analyst for Dun & Bradstreet Inc., and currently the CEO of Buyherebuynow.com is ranting that fashion brands by asking “outrageous prices” have brought the trademark infringements problem upon themselves. “By pricing their wares in … Continue reading

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From the Trenches of IP Education in China

It is great when practitioners of IP law in China share their knowledge with the next generation. Mr Stan Abrams, working at DLA Piper in Beijing made time for teachting at Central University of Finance and Economics (a co-operation programme … Continue reading

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ASK TongFang Donates RFID System to 2008 Beijing Olympic Games

Tsinghua TongFang, the joint-venture of French RFID company ASK, will donate the whole RFID system to the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games Organizing Committee which including the RFID inlays, gate readers, software and service. Read more here. Head tip to counterfeit.com. … Continue reading

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Troutman Sanders Adds IP Attorney Sebastian Hughes in HK

AsiaMedia sent me this press release: “Hong Kong, 6th November 2007 – Global law firm Troutman Sanders LLP strengthened its intellectual property practice by adding well-known IP attorney Sebastian Hughes as a partner to its Asia team – further evidence … Continue reading

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Words Less Spoken about Copyright Piracy in China

Much ado about copyright piracy in China. Liu Baijia wrote about China’s measures against copyright infringement in the article ‘Taking action against piracy’ for China Daily. Many familiar arguments can be read here: about on the one hand China’s great … Continue reading

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TRIPs Amendment; China’s Medicine For A New Pandemic?

It is good to be prepared for the worst. Zhu Zhe of the China Daily reports that last Sunday, during the 30th session of the National People’s Congress (NPC) Standing Committee, China’s legislature accepted an amendment to the World Trade … Continue reading

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Pinggu Peaches Only From China: China’s Position on GI

On June 21, IP Dragon mentioned that there would be an international symposium on geographical indications (GI) organised by the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) and China’s State Administration for Industry and Commerce (SAIC) in Beijing, June 26 to 28, … Continue reading

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Alibaba and the IP Thieves; Domain Name, Trademark and Copyright Disputes

Cherry Zhang of Pacific Epoch wrote:“Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba is in a trademark war with Beijing-based software company Beijing Zhengpu Technology to register the “Alibaba” name in China, reports Sohu. Alibaba originally applied for the trademark from China’s State Administration … Continue reading

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How to Protect Software in China? An Excellent Overview

Seagull Song Haiyan and Xu Yuezhou of King & Wood wrote an excellent overview about how to protect computer software in China. Song and Xu take a close look at the possibilities to use copyright, patent, trade secret and technology … Continue reading

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Canton Fair Bans IP Infringers For Up to 4 Times, Camera Phones Make IP Infringement Too Easy

Many intellectual property owners have a dilemma. They have a product they want the world to show their product, but they don’t want the world to copy it. This problem is especially urgent at fairs and exhibitions. Zhan Lisheng and … Continue reading

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Fake Parallel Imported Disks Caught in Hong Kong

The definition of parallel import in Wikipedia is a non-counterfeit product imported from another country without the permission of the intellectual property owner. After a week-long investigation with the help of the Motion Picture Association, Customs raided four retail shops … Continue reading

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Update WTO IPR and Market Access Case Against China, And What Has Antigua To Do With It?

On April 10 the US requested consultations for two, interrelated, WTO cases: DS362 China – Measures affecting the protection and enforcement of intellectual property rights DS363 China – Measures affecting trading rights and distribution services for certain publications and audiovisual … Continue reading

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The Fundamentals: Definition Piracy and Counterfeiting

Inspired by the open source movement I invited everybody to give feedback to my thesis. Attorney at law Mr Michiel Amende, LL.M of Amende Advocaten in the Netherlands advised me to include a list of definitions. I totally agree. So, … Continue reading

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TGIF: Satire Lashes Out At China’s Olympic Logo

Thank goodness it’s Friday again! Brand owners are not always pleased with the way other people use/abuse their logo in the name of satire. With the following cartoon I am sure the Chinese government and the Chinese Olympics Committee will … Continue reading

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Trademark and Trade Dress Infringement Case: Wangzhihe versus German Supermarket OKAI

Mr Peter Ollier of Managing Intellectual Properties investigates the challenges Chinese brands have in their strategy to conquer foreign markets, read more here. He mentioned the trademark infringement case of Wangzhihe (Beijing flavoured Beancurd), which was founded in 1678! according … Continue reading

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Human Resources And Intellectual Property Management Inseparable

Heidrick & Struggles, one of the two licensed foreign executive search firms in China, have published an interesting series called China Perspective about important aspects of Human Resources for international, multinational and transnational companies doing business in China. See here. … Continue reading

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Did Schneider Electric Infringed Its Own French Patent In China?

These days a high voltage commercial dispute is raging in the transnational low voltage products industry about a utility model, (which falls under the Patent Law, see article 2). What happened? Saturday, September 29, the Wenzhou Intermediate People’s Court ruled … Continue reading

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Next Step in WTO Copyright Case Against China: Investigation Panel

Today, the WTO has decided to establish a panel to investigate the claim by the US that China enforces IP insufficiently. Yan Liang of Xinhua writes:“The panel decision was automatically made at a meeting of the WTO’s Dispute Settlement Body, … Continue reading

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Prosaic End of Poetic SMS Copyright Infringement Case

September 13, the Shanghai No. 2 Intermediate People’s Court ruled that internet portal Sohu.com should pay writer Mr Fu Zhanbei 100,000 yuan (US $ 13,000) and a public apology, for infringing upon Mr Fu’s copyright by selling his poetic work … Continue reading

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Hong Kong Exhibition Celebrates Creative Industry and IP Protection

Today’s WIPO’s press release states: “An exhibition showcasing various facets of creativity in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) was inaugurated on Monday evening at the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), coinciding with the opening day of the annual … Continue reading

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Why the Mouse Had To Go Out Of Beijing Shijingshan Amusement Park

Remember the chutzpah of a slogan ‘Disney is too far’ of Beijing Shijingshan Amusement Park, which used the menagerie of Walt Disney and Japanese cartoon figures last May, read here. It remained silent about how the story continued. So IP … Continue reading

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Danwei Model Worker Award 2007

IP Dragon is proud and happy to have received the Danwei Model Worker Award in the category Law and Intellectual Property. Recipients of Danwei Model Worker awards are decided by Danwei editors.Thank you very much! Find all Danwei Model Worker … Continue reading

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Scott Warren: Small Supply of Genuine Products and Nationalism Breed IP Infringements

The prolific Mr Jeremy Phillips of IP Kat reports about the Marques Conference in Porto (September 18-21), organised by the Association of European trade mark owners. Mr Scott Warren, a lawyer with Kroll in Japan, which provides risk-mitigation and protective … Continue reading

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Bust of an Allegedly Pirated DVD Vendor in Hangzhou Night Market: Show or for Real?

A certain msmakara witnessed, recorded it and uploaded a video on YouTube of Hangzhou police who bust an alleged pirated DVD vendor in June 9, 2007. See here. msmakara wrote as an introduction to the video:“As I was walking through … Continue reading

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Dan Koeppel On China’s Product Cloning Industry

Mr. Dan Koeppel, journalist for the American Popular Science Magazine and writer of the book “To See Every Bird on Earth: A Father, a Son, and a Lifetime Obsession“, took up himself the role to explain to his readership the … Continue reading

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Eyewitness Reports Fake Olympic Merchandise Omnipresent in Beijing’s Tourist Area

Despite more positive reports in the past, see here and special regulations on the protection of products with the Olympic logo in 2002, see here, infringements of Olympic IPRs is widespread in Beijing’s tourist areas, according to eyewitness correspondent Mr … Continue reading

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A Positive Voice In A World Of Music Piracy

Eric Zhu is quoted by BusinessWeeks’ messrs. Bruce Einhorn and Xiang Ji’s article Deaf To Music Piracy, saying that the law is to blame mostly for the disrespect for music copyrights in China.However, IP Dragon begs to differ that it … Continue reading

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Neither Smart Nor Noble: Shuanghuan versus Daimler and BMW:

Thank you Mr Muamer Hodzic of BenzInsider for the permission to use this picture that compares the Shuanghua Noble (left) and Smart (right) Shijiazhuang Shuanghuan Automobile Limited Company has stirred a lot of controvery with its model Noble, a mini … Continue reading

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China Announces Own HD DVD Standard: CH-DVD

The Optical Memory National Engineering Research Center (OMNERC), a laboratory dedicated to optical disc research at Tsinghua University, announced yesterday the CH-DVD (China High Definition DVD). This standard is based on HD-DVD (high definition DVD) and is a big blow … Continue reading

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Thesis: Paper Tiger or Roaring Dragon, China’s TRIPs Implementations and Enforcement

Thesis by Danny Friedmann, thesis advisor Professor P. Bernt Hugenholtz, Professor Peter K. Yu:Paper Tiger or Roaring DragonChina’s TRIPs Implementations and Enforcement Abstract:Thesis about whether China’s IPR enforcement laws are TRIPs compliant. At least on paper most of China’s IPR … Continue reading

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Founder Sues Blizzard Over Font Copyright Infringements

Xinhua news reported about California-based Blizzard Entertainment (owned by Vivendi, a French media and telecom company) being sued by Chinese font producer Founder Electronicsat the Beijing Municipal Higher People’s Court, because of alleged font copyright infringements in its massively multiplayer … Continue reading

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Patent Disputes Between China-South Korea-India versus the US Jeopardises Cleaner Coal Technology

Kathleen Kilanowski, an attorney focusing on IP among other things, for Dallas and New York based Scott & Scott, a law and technology services firm, wrote about international patent disputes that halt progress in FutureGen’s coal power plant technology. FutureGen … Continue reading

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IP in China; Never a Dull Moment

As the previous message pointed out, IP Dragon was occupied, so when I resumed blogging I immediately was confirmed by the facts and developments that this field of law is dynamic and fascinating, indeed: America’s WTO case against China challenging … Continue reading

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Message of IP Dragon

IP Dragon was occupied and will be start blogging again on August 13th. See you then. Cheers,IP Dragon

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“Unprecedented” China-FBI Crackdown On Software Piracy

In a press release, J. Stephen Tidwell, assistent director of the Los Angeles Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), informs the public about a joint crackdown on manufacturers of software piracy in Shanghai, Shenzhen and distributors in the US by China’s … Continue reading

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In Order To Clean Up China’s Environment Intellectual Property Rights Need To Be Protected

July 10, IP Dragon wrote that the IP protection in China is a big challenge, but peanuts compared to China’s environmental challenge and elaborated on the parallels between solving IP and the environmental problems, read more here. Mr Matt Perkins … Continue reading

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New Harry Potter Books in China, Magic Or Rip-off?

Roy Berman of Mutant Frog Travelogue has a nice post on illegally published novel-length “fanfiction” of Harry Potter books and got a hold on these books and scanned the front pages of them. See more here. UPDATE: Mr Howard W. … Continue reading

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Of IP’s Most Important Figures of 2007 Who is Most Relevant to IP in China?

The magazine Managing Intellectual Property announced IP’s Most Important Figures of 2007. Of this group, who deserved this title because of its role regarding IP in China? Obviously this includes Ms Wu Yi (China’s vice-premier and IP-negotiator) and Mr Tian … Continue reading

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China’s General Protecht Group Wins IPR Case in US

Li Yang of CCTV.com reports about several patent infringement disputes between US-based Leviton against Zhejiang Province-based General Protecht Group’s US subsidiary General Protecht Group Inc. The lawsuits were filed April 2004 and only June 10, 2007 a US court came … Continue reading

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China’s Impact On Intellectual Property

The US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is sponsoring a China-focused intellectual property “roadshow” July 23-24, 2007 in Philadephia. Topics: China’s laws and regulations that may affect how a business protects and enforces its intellectual property; how best to protect … Continue reading

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Guge Case: Business Name vs Trademark Dispute Or Practical Problem?

On June 29, the Beijing Haidian District People’s Court accepted the case of Beijing Guge Science and Technology Ltd. versus Google’s subsidiary in China called Guge for disrupting business. Tian Yunshan, company secretary for Beijing Guge Science and Technology said … Continue reading

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Protect Or Destroy: Pick Your Choice in Transformers’ IPR

Mr John Neff of the Autoblog is ranting against China’s car advertisments that use cars transforming into robots and vice versa. His article’s title is: “Chinese automakers copy everything else, why not the Transformers”, read more here. One should distinguish … Continue reading

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Don’t Drink Beijing Tap Water, Water from the Cooler Filled With Beijing Tap Water; Drink Beer?

I can still remember the economics classes where free goods were to include water. This is certainly not the case in China any longer. Joel Martinsen of Danwei en Jia Fenyong reported already July 4, here, that drinkable water from … Continue reading

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IP Dragon is China Blog Awards Nominee 2007

IP Dragon is honoured to be nominated for the Chinalyst.net’s China Blog Awards 2007. If you like IP Dragon, you can vote for it here (until July 31). IP Dragon is in good company of the following nominees; China Briefing … Continue reading

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