Don’t get Burned: How to Protect Your Intellectual Property Dr. Euan Taylor November 3, 2011

An IP Hub China is becoming an R&D and an IP hub China is now the most IP litigious country in the world Enforcement, lack of transparency etc., remain problematic

Legal Environment A civil law country RegistrabIe IP: Trade-secrets Patents Trade-marks Copyrights Industrial designs Utility models Trade-secrets A member of all the major IP treaties

Searching and Pre-emptive Filings Take action early: Conduct searches for competitor IP File applications to register IP Do on-site due diligence Explore practical steps to limit exposure of IP

Contracts Have confidentiality agreements, licenses, assignments in place Agreements must comply with fundamental provisions of Chinese law Technology contracts must often be registered to be binding Certain terms may be prohibited or mandatory Different conceptions of what the contract means

When the Deal Goes Sour Dispute resolution provisions are critical Choice of law Venue for dispute resolution Mechanism for dispute resolution Arbitral decisions are more easily enforced than a court judgment

Litigation No discovery procedures Administrative procedures Court orders are enforceable across China but court procedures can be slow Using customs procedures to detain infringing goods

Remedies Seizure of infringing goods Damages are relatively low by western standards Injunctions Enforcement can be problematic

Thank you