At-a-glance: State Intellectual Property Office (Patent office) No 6 Xituchenglu Road, Haidian District, Beijing 100088, China Tel: +86 10 6208 3114, Fax: +86 10 6201 9615 Email: sipoffice@sipo.gov.cn Website: www.sipo.gov.cn Trademark Office,... [more]

At-a-glance:
State Intellectual Property Office (Patent office)
No 6 Xituchenglu Road, Haidian District, Beijing 100088, China
Tel: +86 10 6208 3114, Fax: +86 10 6201 9615
Email: sipoffice@sipo.gov.cn
Website: www.sipo.gov.cn

Trademark Office, State Administration for Industry and Commerce (Trade mark office)
No 8 Sanlihe East Road, Xicheng District, Beijing 100820,  China
Tel: +86 10 6802 7820, Fax: +86 10 6801 3623
Email: info.sbj@saic.gov.cn
Website: www.sbj.saic.gov.cn

National Copyright Administration (Copyright office)
No 40 Xuanwumen Waida Street, Xuanwu District, Beijing 100052, China
Email: copyright@ncac.gov.cn
Website: www.ncac.gov.cn

"Intellectual Property is a sunrise industry in China," comments a practitioner. The litigation and prosecution numbers keep growing, and the government continues to put in efforts and resources to facilitate the development of the IP market in the country.

One change implemented in 2010 that affected the legal market was the cancellation of foreign filing licences. In the past, only big firms that had a licence could help foreign clients in filling applications, but since October last year this has been opened up. Commentators expect that the competition will become fiercer in one or two year's time and that some will seek to compete on price. Others argue that the new policy creates welcome competition and might give more room for local firms to grow and improve the quality of their service and advice.

Market observers shared their thoughts on the improvements of trade mark examination speed made by the China Trade Mark Office (CTMO) and the Trademark Adjudication Board (TRAB) as well. "It seems that they are going from one extreme to another extreme," says a law firm partner. His opinion echoes that of the other practitioners.

One notes that there is "a whole lot of interesting but strange decisions" as many new examiners do not have enough experience: "If you focus too much on speed, you sacrifice the quality of judgment." Many reported that they are getting more trade mark administrative cases because of this, but this is not necessarily a good thing: "It makes it very difficult to appeal to the TRAB and the courts because no one knows what the decision is based on."

IP awareness is definitely increasing in the local community and this has led to a huge surge of litigation cases. "PRC companies are now more aware of how they can play with the IP system," observes one partner. Another notes that some local companies are "pushing and testing the boundaries," and "multinational corporations are becoming targets of patent infringement suits encouraged by a number of high damage awards".

Apart from more patent, trade mark and copyright litigation, there are an increasing number of trade secrets and unfair competition cases with IP elements, showing that businesses have become more sophisticated in China. According to one market observer: "business competition has entered into a phase that will focus on technology," and companies are moving away from trade mark infringement and counterfeiting. The Chinese government's encouragement of indigenous innovation and more multinationals moving their R&D centres to China or forming joint ventures with local partners have all contributed to the rise of trade secrets disputes.

China's regions

The IP market in China's regional cities has a strong focus on contentious work and varies depending on the level of industrial and economic development. Eastern coastal areas are some of the richest in the country and have a large number of home-grown small- and medium-sized enterprises, particularly in manufacturing, consumer products, internet business, international trade and retail commodities. This leads to IP work focusing on anti-counterfeiting actions, trade mark infringements and invalidation proceedings. Trade secrets disputes are also common, as competition between companies is fierce and senior executives often change jobs.

Similar issues also occur in northern regions, such as Qingdao and Tianjin. Traditionally strong in light industry, Qingdao has produced a number of leading national brands. Their dominant market position and the value of their brand names has become of one of major sources of legal work. Meanwhile, lawyers in Tianjin enjoy a greater exposure to foreign investment. This is thanks to the development of Tianjin Binhai New Area (TBNA), an economic and technology development zone established by the government, which recognised the zone as the country's third economic powerhouse after Shanghai and Shenzhen.

Although the market in western China's Chongqing is less competitive, a few patent disputes have occurred there that have caught attention nationwide. It is the major law firms in the city that normally represent clients in court. In the southern region, competition, especially in Guangdong province, is intense. Driven by the size of its manufacturing industry, and in recent years the booming of the home-grown electronics and high-tech sector in Shenzhen, the filing figures turned in by firms could well compete with its counterparts in Beijing and Shanghai. A majority of the applications are filed domestically, but the use of Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) system and Madrid Protocol is certainly increasing. It is not surprising that the high demand for IP services has produced a great number of competing law firms, some of which have built a national reputation.