How to Legally Use Mickey Mouse Brand and FIgure in China?

By You Yunting

About one month before, the IPR Committee of Shanghai Bar Association invited the police officer from the Economic Investigating Squadron of Shanghai Police Department to deliver a speech on the criminal protection over IPR issues. And in the communication after the seminar, the police officer raised a question to the acceded lawyers, “The Shanghai Disney Land will be constructed several years later, and it’s foreseeable that there could be stores selling Mickey Mouse or other figures articles with no license thereby granted around the park. Yet, by then, the copyright protection term on Mickey could be expired, and so what measures could be taken to strike the unlicensed using or selling?”

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Introduction to the China Patent Exploitation License Contract Record System

Recently, our lawyers are consulted for the necessity and attentive point of patent exploitation license record, and as a professional patent agency qualified by the administration, DeBund Law Offices provides the service of application of the license contract record for the global client in China. Today we will introduce the system of the paten exploitation license contract record in China.

I. The function of the administrative record

1. The information disclosure

For the data coming from the patent exploitation license record, the State Intellectual Property Organization (“SIPO”) has established a special data base, which is available for public check. And in addition, for the registered data, SIPO also makes the record on Patent Register and will also make a publication on the Patent Gazzete.

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Legal Commentary on the case of Founder VS P&G and Chinese Character, II

—Analysis on the law Nature of the Works of Word Stock

Today’s essay follows “Legal Commentary on the case of Founder VS P&G and Chinese Character, I”

(2) The Founder Word Stock is the composite works

The Stock here refers to the Founder Word Stock composing all the individual words in it rather than the stock software. The new works come from the selection or arrangement of the existing works is called the composite works. In our opinion, it’s necessary for Founder to apply the copyright registration for the whole Stock since only focusing on the determination of the copyrighted works over the Stock Software or the individual words is not enough. And such registration could benefit the protection over the Stock against any other infringement, such as to print a book or magazine in the script in the Stock with no license.

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Legal Commentary on the copyright infringement case of Founder Electronics VS P&G, I

—Analysis on the law Nature of the Works of Chinese Character Word Stock

Highlight: Today and tomorrow, Bridge IP Law Commentary will introduce and analyze you the case of script copyright conflict between Founder and P&G, and also the system of word stock works behind the case. And the following is the first half—the introduction on the case and the part analysis on the nature of the works of word stock.

On the morning of 5th July, 2011, the appeal of the Founder Electronics (HKEX:0418, 0618) was rejected by the No.1 Intermediate People’s Court of Beijing in its case of the script copyright conflict against P&G (NYSE: PG), and the decision of the first hearing was supported. The final judgment maintains an ambiguous attitude towards the determination of “飘柔”, the localized name of the Rejoice brand of P&G , to be a fine art works, neither to support it or opposite it.

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