Changsha Municipal Intellectual Property Office and Changsha Federation of Industry and Commerce in Hunan Province jointly held a training program on IPR protection for enterprises entering fairs abroad on October 28 and 29, participated by senior managements from more than 180 above-scale enterprises. Mr. He Jihua, vice mayor of the city, encouraged enterprises in Changsha to wisely use intellectual property to improve their core competitiveness and avoid infringement risks when going out to the global market in his opening speech.
It was known from the training program on October 28 that as the continual implementing of opening up policy in Changsha, various international trade fairs have brought significant boosting effect to the city’s manufacturing exports. Latest statistics show that the total exports achieved last year by more than one thousand foreign trade enterprises in Changsha reached $2.446 billion; the gross export from January to August this year reached $2.02 billion with a year on year increase of 28.4%, and products exported covered many fields, including engineering machinery, medical device, textile & garment, software & animation, fireworks and new materials.
“It is always a double-edged sword that Chinese enterprises participate in foreign trade fairs”, said Peng Min’an, director of Changsha Municipal Intellectual Property Office. A survey done by relevant authorities to Chinese domestic manufactures, including that in Changsha, shows that IP dispute is a frequent problem faced by them in exports and in foreign exhibitions due to their unfamiliarity to foreign rules on IP protection. Products of some Chinese exhibitors were even seized in foreign trade fairs because of suspected intellectual property infringement, which resulted in huge loss in their reputation and in overseas market. Currently, many Chinese enterprises are going abroad to participated in exhibitions on machinery and electronics, which are also Changsha’s major export industries.
According to Fang Liwei, a training expert and Commissioner of Intellectual Property Committee under Taiwan Federation of Industries, IP infringement proceedings encountered by Chinese enterprises in foreign trade fairs mainly involve patent, trademark, design and pattern, integrated circuit layout design, undisclosed information and professional Intellect. Some western enterprises even treat major international trade fairs as grounds to fight for their legitimate rights or target their opponents with malicious intent. He warned that enterprises in Changsha, if decided to participate in international trade fairs, should carefully study the legal system and enforcement procedures in the host countries and fight back with legal tools when encountering attack from foreign companies.
In the two-day training, several foreign experts, including Dr. Jürgen Meier from Vossius & Partner, a famous law firm in Germany, illustrated to Changsha manufacturers how to protect their intellectual property rights in trade fairs in Europe and the US, providing detailed analysis on IP protection situation, rights defending and infringement defense.
(IPR in China )
