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

2. 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

3. 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

4. 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

5. 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

6. 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

7. 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

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

9. Thank you