CHALLENGING CHINA
THE CHALLENGES OF CHINA: AN INVESTIGATOR’S PERSPECTIVE
Many Western companies are
seeking opportunities in China. But with
opportunity comes threat. Graham
Robinson outlines
the best strategies for protecting your IP.
According to the 2009 Report on EU Customs Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights, 54 percent of infringing goods detained at the EU external border originated from China. Chinese immigrants are illegally traffi cked into the UK in order to produce and distribute counterfeit DVDs, and Chinese organised crime gangs import counterfeit cigarettes and rolling tobacco from China. In 2009, customs seized more than 110,000 pirated games from just one Chinese company importing goods to the UK.
T ere is no shortage of challenges facing brand owners.
Cybersquatting and vexatious registrations
Many infringing domain names are registered by entities in China. We have worked on a number of cases where Chinese entities have registered clients’ brand names as trademarks in China in the hope that the Western brand will off er a signifi cant sum for the registration. Clients who choose to pursue legal remedies fi nd themselves mired in a lengthy and expensive legal process. T ere is no guarantee of success. Commercial imperatives may dictate that the better course of action is to buy the registration via an anonymous intermediary.
46 World Intellectual Property Review May/June 2011 Counterfeiting
A high proportion of counterfeits come from China. One of the main routes to market is the Internet. Most brand owners will know of websites offering copies of their products. The registrants will appear to be based in the UK, but in the majority of cases, the registrant details are fictitious and the website content is dictated by the IP address of the visitor to the site. Any contact number is likely to be a ‘follow me’ number routed to a call centre in China.
It is becoming increasingly necessary for brand owners to have reliable investigators to consult on issues in China. Unfortunately, investigators who are paid a success fee for locating and raiding counterfeit factories may work with counterfeiters to ensure a steady supply of easy targets. Once raided, they may be up and running again the next day.
Investigators working in China face a number of diffi culties. China’s geography means that covering the whole country is unusually diffi cult, and conducting on-the-ground enquiries can mean expensive travel to remote locations.
www.worldipreview.com
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