Author Archives: Dr. Danny Friedmann

Research: Through Fake Sunglasses You Will See Reality Differently, Behave More Unethical, Feel Less Authenic

Remember IP Dragon’s post of April, 2009: ‘Faustian Pact Anno 2009: Receive Counterfeit Products, Loose Your Soul‘. Francesca Gino (Kenan-Flager Business School, University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill), Michael I. Norton (Harvard Business School) and Dan Ariely (Fuqua Businss … Continue reading

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IP Dragon Speaks at 3rd Global Forum on Intellectual Property, Singapore, January 6 and 7, 2011

IP Dragon is very honored he is invited by the IP Academy of Singapore to speak at the 3rd Global Forum on Intellectual Property, Raffles City Convention Centre, on January 6 and 7, 2011. This years theme is very actual: … Continue reading

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What Can A Famous Food Brand Do Against Footwear Using Its Mark?

As a vegetarian I do not frequent the many McDonald’s fastfood joints that can be found in China and which turn the slim people obese, just as they did with the American and European populations. I am not really certain … Continue reading

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Q&A on Trademark Proactive (TP), Tipi and Indian Givers

I was delighted by the questions after I uploaded my Asia Pacific IP Forum presentation in Hong Kong to Slideshare: ‘How Social Media Challenge the Brandscape for Trademark Holders‘ in which I propose a solution for trademark holders: Trademark Proactive … Continue reading

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Mickey, Pokémon and Dooly Still Banned From Chinese Prime Time TV

September 30 to October 5, 2010, the second China International Animation Copyright Fair will be held in China’s animation capital Dongguan, Guangdong province. Read an article by Tan Jing for News Guangdong here. In 2010 foreign animations, such as Mickey … Continue reading

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Anglo-Chinese Memorandum of Understanding on Copyright

Intellectual property minister Wilcox and the president of the National Copyright Administration of China (NCAC) Liu Binjie signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoA) on Copyright, read more on the UK Central Office of Information site here.

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Uncreative Brand, Creative Brand in China

Uncreative Brand In Yangshuo, next to Guilin, Guangxi province, you can see one of the most characteristic mountains of China. But if you bike through the village, you will notice some interesting shops as well. Almost next to each other … Continue reading

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How Social Media Challenge the Brandscape for the Trademark Holders

Stan Abrams (China Hearsay), Chris Bailey (Rouse), Xie Lin (CUHK) and I gave presentations about the impact of Social Media on intellectual property (and vice versa). My presentation focused on social media and trademark law. In this presentation I tried … Continue reading

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IP Dragon Speaks on 7th Annual Asia-Pacific IP Forum 2010

September 1, 2010, Stan Abrams of China Hearsay fame, and I will speak on Social Media (such as Facebook, LinkedIn, MySpace, but also blogs) and intellectual property (especially trademark and copyright) issues, during the 7th Annual Asia-Pacific IP Forum 2010. … Continue reading

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IP Dragon Gives Lunch Presentation At Baker & McKenzie

Yesterday I gave a lunch presentation at the Hong Kong office of Baker & McKenzie. The title of my presentation: ‘Is China’s Unique Patent Law Paving the Way to Innovation?’ about the challenges of foreign innovators because of the changes … Continue reading

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Professor Llewelyn’s Book Launched: ‘Invisible Gold in Asia: Creating Wealth Through Intellectual Property’

Professor Llewelyn’s new book just came out: ‘Invisible Gold in Asia: Creating Wealth Through Intellectual Property‘. If IP is the invisible gold in Asia, then Professor David Llewelyn is the alchemist of intangible property. Publisher Marshall Cavendish Business writes: “World … Continue reading

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Vax Is Not Infringing Dyson’s Design Right?

Damian Reece wrote for the Telegraph that Dyson lost its claim in the High Court that its design right was infringed by the Mach Zen of Vax, a Chinese manufacturer of vacuum cleaners, whose design looks very similar indeed. See … Continue reading

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TGIF: Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator Says The Darndest Things

Online copyright piracy is a serious problem. China has started a campaign of three months to blacklist websites with pirated content so that Chinese telecom operators can take them offline. Now one can question the effectiveness of this temporary measure, … Continue reading

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Copyright Piracy in China: China Did Not Shed Its Fetish For Temporary Mass Campaigns

Blacklisting until the blacklisting goes on black again… The National Copyright Administration of China (NCAC) has started a campaign on July 21, which will last until the end of October, to blacklist websites that are found to contain pirated content. … Continue reading

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JCB’s Chairman Compares China’s IPR Enforcement To Disease At Banquet With Premier Wen

Jonathan Guthrie’s article for the Financial Times about the travails of JCB, the manufacturer of loaders, forklifts etc. to survive the economic crisis, includes quotes of its chairman. This Sir Anthony Bamford allegedly said to the Chinese premier Wen Jiabao … Continue reading

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CNBC: “The Most Profitable Criminal Enterprise: Counterfeit Goods”

CNBC presents “Crime Inc.: Counterfeit Goods,” presented by Carl Quintanilla will be aired July 14. “At around 7% of all global trade, Counterfeit Goods are a big business with low overhead. It makes too much money to go away any … Continue reading

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Chinese Counterfeit Cisco Products Because of Profit Seeking Or State Sponsored Cyber Terrorism?

After ‘Cisco Raider/Operation Network Raider‘ about counterfeit Cisco Systems router products which originate from China, Professor Peter Navarro poses the question whether the intention was only profit seeking by unscrupulous Chinese counterfeiters, or whether these products are trojan horses that … Continue reading

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Ms Pagnattaro Does Not Keep It A Secret How To Protect Your Trade Secret In China

Marisa Anne Pagnattaro wrote a very good paper: ‘‘‘The Google Challenge’’: Enforcement of Noncompete and Trade Secret Agreements for Employees Working in China’, American Business Law Journal Volume 44, Issue 4, 603–637, Winter 2007. If you don’t need to share … Continue reading

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Is Hong Kong’s Copyright Stopping the Publication of Li Peng’s Historic Significant Diary?

Benjamin Kam Lim reports for Reuters that the diary of Li Peng that describes Li’s version of what happened during the events that lead up to the June 3, 1989 massacre, that Hong Kong publisher New Centuty Press was going … Continue reading

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With An Eye On ACTA: China Champion of TRIPs Freedoms and Flexibilities

During the TRIPs Council, which was held June 8 and 9, China told delegates it was concerned about developed countries that want provisions (for example the lower thresholds for criminal enforcement of counterfeiting and piracy) that go beyong TRIPs. This … Continue reading

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Professor Llewelyn: “Leverage Your IP Rights”

This Morning IP Dragon attended a breakfast seminar by Professor David Llewelyn (IP Academy of Singapore and Of Counsel at White & Case in Singapore). Even though it was quite early, many people interested in how to maximise the use … Continue reading

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China’s National Intellectual Property Strategy, What’s The Progress? Website To Stay Updated

September 11, 2008 IP Dragon published ‘China’s National IP Strategy 2008: Feasible Commitments or Road to Nowhere Paved With Good Intentions.’ To “popularise” and to keep those interested in the progress of China in implementing its National IP Strategy a … Continue reading

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Guest Blogger Mathijs van Basten Batenburg On The People’s Courts of China

IP Dragon asked Matthijs van Basten Batenburg legal counsel of several Chinese and Dutch SME at MvBB Ltd. in Shanghai to write a guest column. IP Dragon does not necessarily agree with the content, but wants to present a forum … Continue reading

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China Copyright and Media Looks At the Law of China’s Entertainment Media

IP Dragon’s friend Rogier Creemers has started a great website called ‘China Copyright and Media, Looking at the Law of China’s Entertainment Media’, see here. For this field of study it includes many relevant laws, regulations and rules, from the … Continue reading

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Shanghai World Expo 2010 Exposes Organisers’ Lack of Creativity

In 2007 the Bureau of the Shanghai World Expo 2010 Coordination promulgated a special regulatation (See here: No. 11) concerning intellectual property rights. In short all participants to the World Expo were warned that they should comply to China’s IPR … Continue reading

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IP Dragon’s “Shock and Awe” Holiday Tips

When in Paris, IP Dragon does not only highly recommend you to visit le Louvre at the rive droite and le Musée d’Orsay at the rive gauche so you will be awed by the original works of great artists. For … Continue reading

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Is It a Plane? Is It a Bird? No It is the Bleagle! Made in China

Stan Abrams of the China Hearsay (which has been totally upgraded) reports straing from the INTA in Boston about … Geely’s Gleagle. Mr Abrams is giving his always entertaining thoughts about trademarks that consist of made-up words. Read more here.

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IPR elasticity of FDI is back in China?

The last years there seemed to be no relation between the level of protection and enforcement of intellectual property rights and foreign direct investments (FDI) in China. Most companies did not let them scare by the intellectual property related challenges … Continue reading

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Geertje Hesseling’s thesis about Intellectual Property Rights in Fashion in China

Geertje Hesseling wrote an interesting Master’s thesis ‘Intellectutal Property rights in fashion in China and the knowledge of young Chinese designers on this topic‘ for Cultural Economics & Cultural Entrepreneurship at the Erasmus University Rotterdam. She develops her thesis by … Continue reading

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Don’t Feed The Patent Trolls in China and Start Your Own IP Team

Tian Lipu, commissioner of the State Intellectual Property Office (SIPO) visited Samsung, according to the China Daily. Mr Tian was told by the Keun-Hee Park, president of Samsung’s operations in China that patent trolls were on the rise. One can … Continue reading

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Would You Tell A Stranger On The Phone Whether You Have Pirated Software?

China Daily has an optimistic article about the declining software piracy rates in China. At least according to a survey by Chinalabs.com commissioned by the State Administration for Industry and Commerce. The surveys were done by phone and one can … Continue reading

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June 25, Seminar: ‘Managing IPR As A Business Asset in Greater China’

IP Dragon is delighted to invite everyone interested in IPR in China to a seminar called ‘Managing IPR as a Business Asset in Greater China’ organised by EUBIP and China IPR-SME Helpdesk. (Take note: some speakers still need to confirm). … Continue reading

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What is so special about Special 301 vis-à-vis China? Part IV

Previous parts can be seen here: Part I, Part II, Part III. What was said during the Special 301 hearing about Intellectual Property in China? So who were the four witnesses that spoke about IPR in China? Ambassador Shaun Donnelly … Continue reading

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What is so special about Special 301 vis-à-vis China? Part III

Previous parts can be seen here: Part I, Part II. So what does the report say about China? On the positive side: An increase in the number of civil IP cases in the courts (would be nice if the report … Continue reading

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What is so special about Special 301 vis-à-vis China? Part II

The previous part can be seen here: Part I. Yes, Special 301 is special, but what is rather normal? Like each sovereign state, the US tries to use its power to encourage/pressure other countries to protect its interests as long … Continue reading

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What is so special about Special 301 vis-à-vis China?

Each year, since 2005, IP Dragon dealt with the annual Special 301 reports, as a ritual dance in April which had to be described concisely and quickly. Not this year. The ferociousness of the tone by some (see below Messrs. … Continue reading

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Indigenous Innovation in China: Soup Will Not Be Eaten As Hot As Cooked

Will Freeman and Tom Miller assert for the Financial Times that China’s economic nationalism is exaggerated: “The State Council began to promote “indigenous innovation”—a plan to support the creation and commercialization of domestic technology—in 2006. Then in November 2009 a … Continue reading

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Seventy Percent of US Business in China Values Protection of IP Critically Or Very Important

The American Chamber of Commerce in China (AmCham-China) launched its 2010 Business Climate Survey Report. It seems here too the climate is heating up. IP relevant results are: In 2009 18 percent (company sample size 311) reported intellectual property rights … Continue reading

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Aigo Sues HP, Dell, Sony, Toshiba and Samsung for Patent Infringements

At a Beijing court Aigo sued HP and at a Xian court it sued Toshiba for infringement of 6 patents which cover USB plus, a storage port technology. HP, Dell, Sony, Toshiba and Samsung all received a letter from Aigo’s … Continue reading

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Symbolic IPR Enforcement and Bonfire of the Vanities

Zhang Jiawei reported for the China Daily about China’s efforts to destroy pirated goods and raise awareness among the public. China destroyed 36 million copies of pirated and illegal publications in 31 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities, the Guangming Daily … Continue reading

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Chinese Companies Are IPR Victims Too

Lin Meilian wrote for the Global Times (China’s answer to the BBC or France24) an article about a Chinese company whose IPR is being faked. Ms Lin writes: “The report in Shenzhen-based Jing Bao quoted Fang Zhen, marketing manager of … Continue reading

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Also So Much to Do in IP in the USA! Happy World IP Day To All!

Keith Johnson reports today in the Wall Street Journal that: – Last Christmas the US seized 26 million US dollar worth of counterfeit goods.– Now the National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Center confiscated 40 million US dollar worth of couterfeit … Continue reading

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Shanghai Court Awards Microsoft 318,000 US dollar Damages For Copyright Infringement

Kathrin Hille wrote for the Financial Times that a Shanghai court ordered Dazhong Insurance, “a Shanghai-based insurer backed by Chinese state-owned and listed companies” to pay 318,000 US dollar to Microsoft for use of illegal copies of its software. The … Continue reading

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Google Government Requests Tool Copyrighted Content Included and What About China?

Google has launched a Google Maps tool, called Google Government Requests to show statistics of all government requests it is getting to supply data or to remove content and the percentage it is fully or partially complying with these requests. … Continue reading

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Youku Fingerprints Against Copyright Piracy and Can Advertisers Be Liable Too?

Loretta Chao wrote a good article for the WSJ (Asian edition April 21, 2010) about Youku.com and its efforts to clean up its act toward copyrights. Youku.com is the most popular video site in China (15.7 million unique daily visitors … Continue reading

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Cheese With A Double Identity Crisis: Dutch, No Chinese, No Kiwi

Last Saturday this consumer strolled through the Park N Shop Super Store in Tsuen Wan, near the Tsuen Wan MTR line towards Central, Hong Kong, and was confused not once, but twice. Firstly, because when he saw Edam on the … Continue reading

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Madrid, A Bit Chilly For China’s International Trademark Filings

China’s international trademark filings under World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO)’s Madrid System for the Registration of Marks decreased from 1,585 in 2008 to 1,358 in 2009 (-14.3 percent). China is still the most designated country, with 14.766 in 2009, which … Continue reading

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Are Statutory Compensation Rules For Inventors Scary?

In the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) Asia of March 18, 2010, Andrew Browne and Jason Dean wrote an interesting article called ‘Foreign businesses sour on China’. IP Dragon was happy to see that patent law in China was on the … Continue reading

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Nexocial, Dutch Copycat in China

Hugo Leijtens, an ex-Microsoft employee, went two years ago to Chengdu, he describes as the new Silicon Valley. There he became the Chief Technical Officer of Nexocial, a company that came up with an iPad clone in just three months: … Continue reading

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