DAB Trademark – Class “25” & “Class 41”

Another Chinese New Year tradition in Hong Kong is, going to the “flower market”!

It usually starts 5 or 6 days before the Chinese New Year, ends on the dawn of the New Year Day. The flower-owners and other stall-owners would usually drop their prices towards the dawn on the last day with a view to get everything sold. They would even destroy the flowers, tangerines etc as “want money don’t want goods” is their collective goal!

There are several flower-markets (Causeway Bay, Mong Kok, Kwun Tong, Tsuen Wan etc) and the biggest one is Victoria Park in Causeway Bay where a few pan-democratic parties would normally make use of this good chance to promote their own political parties.

After the recent “5 District Resignation” which aims at witnessing their belief on “universal suffrage” by Civic Party (“CP”) and League of Social Democrats (“LSD”) (the two political parties in Hong Kong), supporters have different ideas to support such movement. They put forward a sale of their design of tee-shirts (2 different style) of which the profits will go to the funding of this new political campaign in a booth in Victoria Park. In one of the two tee-shirt design, there is a similar trademark (both form and color) of their competitor – Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong (“DAB”). This particular design is to put a mark that is similar to DAB’s trademark in the left-hand side, then following with a famous Chinese 4-word proverb whereas the last word means “shame” is missing. For the non-Chinese reader, that 4-words are always used together. Thus by quoting only three words, that implies “shameless”.

The idea is to use the DAB registered trademark and slightly modify it to make it looks different for the knowing, or if you really want to find out the different, but looks the same for the lay man. That is, the tee-shirt would implies that DAB is shameless. Subsequently, DAB was offended!

DAB has lodged a complaint as they are of the view that their trademark has been infringed. In the afternoon of 12 February 2010, the last second day of the flower-market, a few officers from Customs and Excise Department went to this booth to collect the unsold tee-shirts with a view to investigate the intellectual property infringement.

The “Trade Mark Record” as obtained from the Trade Marks Registry, Intellectual Property Department, shows that their registration number is 200102834, they registered for it in 1999 with the expiry date on 26 April 2016. They are registered as “Class 41” of which the specification reads: “arranging and conducting exhibitions, conferences, public meetings and group discussions for cultural and educational purposes; arranging and conducting lectures relating to culture and education; publication of books, magazines and printed matters; conducting and arranging conference, exhibitions, public meetings, group discussion and lectures relating to political affairs and elections, and the safeguard and maintenance of social and political stability in Hong Kong; all included in Class 41.”

Unfortunately, they have not registered for “Class 25”! If they do, they would have the exclusive right to use the mark for tee-shirts or other clothing. Without that, it can become a “passing off” case, they may consider to take civil proceedings. Infringement and passing off are different concepts in terms of intellectual protection and the whole case of Customs and Excise Department taking such a high profile action can be an interesting topics in the coming few weeks.

For further information, “Class 1” to “Class 34” are for “goods” while “Class 35” to “Class 45” are for “services”. Details can be found here.

Now it is time for me to make some purchases at the flower-market and check out other infringemnt cases! Well, as I am told that I look like Andy Lau, please do not ask for my autography or taking photos with me if his fans meet me there!

See you soon in the year of Tiger!

“Big Cleaning” with Pomelo-Leaf before Chinese New Year

One of our Chinese New Year traditions is, to clean our bodies and hair with pomelo-leaf (???)! The best day to do the cleaning (not only body and hair, also the household furniture and utilities) is usually the 28th day of the last month before Chinese New Year, i.e. 11 Feb 2010 according to the Christian calendar in this year.

It is believed that pomelo-leaf is able to wash away the dirt, to cast away the evil spirits and to get ready for the brand new year!

Incidentally, just the right timing to see a half-page announcement of a “Pomelo Leaf Body Wash” in one of the local newspapers on 10 February which is the last fourth day before Chinese new year!

This half-page announcement mentions about the “Utility Patent” and “Trade Mark” in both China and Hong Kong. They started to apply for the patent in 2003 and successfully got it in 2005.  

While reading between lines, there is a hidden story of the Lee’s family for three generations. This family is given a name as “The King of Pomelo for three generations” (????) whom claims to conduct research and development on pomelo-leaf for a few decades. They have successfully added a particular element “flavonoids” (???) which is refined from pomelo-leaf into their product toiletries (including body wash, shampoo and facial wash).

This announcement serves to remind the public that there is only one brand of “pomelo-leaf” as well as to declare that this is now a legal case for any infringement.

Apart from using their specific products, I plan to buy some original pomelo-leaf (usually a few bunches for 10 Hong Kong Dollars) from the market for my body-cleaning tonight! I believe no one from the vegetable stalls will care about the “utility patent”, “trade mark” of the fresh pomelo-leaf.

Hope everyone has a brand new year of Tiger!

P.S. For those who want to check it out, the announced patent is CN03146856.X.

Google-China – Is “leaving China” a Whistle for a “Cyber War”?

Since the announcement of “A New Approach to China” by David Drummond (Senior Vice President, Corporate Development and Chief Legal Officer of Google Inc) on January 12, 2010, the incident is not merely a commercial one, but is upgraded as a whistle for a “Cyber War” in a fortnight!

Apart from the possible “Cyber War”, it also ignites again the crisis of the diplomatic relationship between China and the USA just within two weeks. It is interesting to note that USA is making this incident more juicy and spicy while China remains silent!

When Hilary Clinton, US Secretary of State made an announcement of the same during her official visit at South Pacific on January 21, 2010, it indicates that the trust on cyber territories between China and the USA is collapsing. Furthermore, it is developed into a “Presidential level” when Barack Obama expressed that he is “troubled” about Google-China is being “cyber attacked” and he “wants answers”!

Even the Office of the United States Trade Representative (?????) is considering to lodge a complaint to World Trade Organization (“WTO”) about China’s intervening the cyber limitation which is violating the international trading ordinances.

One of the major differences in their approaches is, possibly that there is a huge variation on the definition of “cyber privacy concept” between China and the USA.

There are many USA enterprises which are establishing their offices in China, for instance, the garment industry, the luxury brands and the pharmaceutical products. If Google-China is to withdraw from the territory, it may be a “green light” for other corporations as these industries require a high degree of intellectual property rights (“IP rights”).

Comparing with other hot issues like human rights, Tibet, sale of military weapon to Taiwan etc., this particular “cyberattack” seems playing a more essential role for USA enterprises to leave China. As a majority of Chinese are concerned about their “face” issues, the USA could take this incident as a “stepping from the stage”, i.e. to provide a good chance for those corporations to leave China in a graceful manner.

Furthermore, as quoted from an article “In Digital Combat, US finds no easy Deterrent” of New York Times on 25 January 2010,

“ … After that, the trail disappeared into a cloud of angry Chinese government denials, and then an ugly exchange of accusations between Washington and Beijing. That continued Monday, with Chinese assertions that critics were trying to “denigrate China” and that the United States was pursuing “hegemonic domination” in cyberspace. These recent events demonstrate how quickly the nation’s escalating cyberbattles have outpaced the rush to find a deterrent, something equivalent to the cold-war-era strategy of threatening nuclear retaliation. …”

You may see the original article here.

Dramatically, Barack Obama has announced their coming decision of the sale of military weapon to Taiwan in a high profile, which is after the last sale from President George Bush in 2008. At the same time, with the recent state-visit of Taiwan President Ma Ying-Jeou to Central America, the diplomatic relationship among China, Taiwan and the USA will draw more attention from the world-stage.

“World Expo Court”, a Privilege to World Expo Shanghai

“Welcoming World Expo, Fighting Against Piracy”

The “Shanghai World Expo” is definitely a milestone in the contemporary history of China at the last year of the 21st century’s first decade.

The term “World Expo Court” in the announcement (dated 25 December 2009) from the State Intellectual Property Office (“SIPO”) is absolutely an “eye candy” for me! It seems to be a “privilege” to China as this is tailor-made for the Shanghai World Expo.

This “World Expo Court” will definitely play a special role during the Expo period (i.e. 168 days/half-year running from 1 May to 31 October 2010). What kind of legal cases it will deal with? Does it imply that a great deal of “intellectual property” issues would happen? Who will be plaintiffs and the defendants? All those relevant issues come to my mind, say the logo, trademark, theme-song, the mascot, the tickets (9 different types of tickets) and even the Expo staff, the participants, the audience may occur.

Furthermore, I am also curious about the credibility of the judges, legal clerks, staff, their qualifications, identities, documents, news etc.

There is an old Chinese saying: “There is no silver being buried” which means “someone does something deliberately to tell others that he is innocent”.

Besides being the “world factory”, everyone knows China is a “paradise” for different types of infringement of luxury goods and even food and drinks – sadly to say so.

Can you imagine it is dramatic if a foreign luxury brand finds its fake products in one of the booths at the Expo Shanghai?

If a “World Expo Court” could handle any legal cases or legal disputes incurred during the period, would it be a great chance for them to showcase to the world that there are “Intellectual Property Rights” in China?

It reminds me another famous quote in China in the last decade: “Everything is fake except the liars in China”.

Speedy patent application drafting

I think our company break a record. From instruction to filing: Two days.

Meaning we have about 24 hours to handle one patent application.

Of course, it is not started from nothing. We were presented with a filed US patent, foreign filing right will expire the next day. So we still go though the normal process: (1) translate the US (English) Patent Application into Chinese; (2) rewrite the Chinese Patent Application suitable for filing to SIPO; (3) retouch on patent drawing; (4) fill up the right forms and (5) filing the same to SIPO.

And there are still follow-up actions, including the filing of Power of Attorney and the original Priority Certificate.

The only step we skipped is customer confirmation. We cannot wait for client confirmation because of time-zone difference, and we will fix any error later.

And because the client was thinking and thinking whether they should file the US patent to China, it took them 363 days to think, and we have 2 days to work on it.

And we did not charge extra for this urgent work, because this is a good customer who pay us really fast.

Google is leaving China

I guess everybody knew this already. I just want to pick up (and translate) a few interesting lines that may be non-Chinese reader missed in their daily news.

1. Sending flower illegally.

Once the news was spread around China, there are people in Beijing and Shanghai who sent flower (personally) to Google offices in these two cities. Then certain government departments announced that sending flower to Google offices need pre-approval. That is, a lot of people are sending flower illegally.

2. Someone's comment:

It is not Google leaving China, it is China leaving the world.

3. In twitter, this is the one of the hottest tag: #googlecn.

4. Google removed any filtering in it's search engine in China immediately. All of a sudden, it was reported that search engines of other local Chinese companies also lifted their filtering. Not because they want to support Google. It was reported that they actually use google.cn as their backend (without paying a license fee to Google). What a country of IP protection!

Enjoy the freedom while you can, and tomorrow may be you cannot access gmail in China!

A “Christmas delight/dessert” in China: Re-announcement of Anti-piracy & Pornography Hotlines

Anti-piracy and Pornography Hotlines Re-announced

The above China IP News was announced on 18.12.2009.

Frankly, I find this re-announcement interesting, amusing and juicy while surfing on this website! It is partly because of the timing of this announcement, i.e. the date of the announcement which is just one week before the Christmas time. It is also partly of the rise of the middle-class who adopts a more Westernized style of consumption pattern.

As it is widely known that Chinese are in the rapid rise of power in the first decade of the 21st century, they have a strong knack in aligning with the cosmopolitan lifestyle. It is essential to emphasis the need for the protection of intellectual property rights.

Even there are no public holidays during Christmas time in China, Chinese (especially citizens in major cities) and especially those returning from overseas (the so-called “sea-turtle” in Chinese) are tend to celebrate the Western festivals. They are willing to spend a considerable amount of money on consumption of gourmet and fancy products with their families, friends, colleagues and business partners. They may, intentionally or accidentally, buy pirate products as Christmas gifts.

Hence, the State Intellectual Property Office (“SIPO”) decided to announce the hotlines so as to remind the general public the importance of respecting intellectual property rights while purchasing the products before Christmas and New Year. It also provides the channel for the businesses of selling the legitimate products to report cases of piracy.

Following the long-standing policy on combating pornography, the SIPO would also stress the necessity for reporting pornography through the re-announcement of hotlines.

Incidentally, when there is “re-announcement” for the reporting of illegal products and any pornographic materials, it is an indication of its arising need and the pursuit of authenticity.
So, it is hoped that with the growth of urban middle-class individuals and DINKS (“Dual Income No Kids) in the PRC, they may want to have a taste of traditional Christmas dessert, such as Christmas pudding or gingerbread-man. They would also acknowledge and be concerned of the protection of intellectual property rights.