China Laws and Regulations Update in November 2020

1.CopyrightLaw of China (Revised)

Promulgated by the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress

Promulgation date: 1 November 2020

Implementation date: 1 June 2021

Document number: No.62 Chinese President Order

Major clauses revised this time are as follows.

I.Changes of relevant wordings and new rules and measures to meet practical needs

Changing movies and works created in a similar way of making a film to “audiovisual works”; creating rules on recordation of works, making the public accessible to information about owners of rights in works; changing wordings relating to the broadcast right to adapt to new technologies for simultaneous online broadcast and use of works; clearly stating that as owners of neighboring rights radio and IV stations have the right to broadcast through information network in “signals containing programs” they broadcast; adding provisions on technical measures and right control information to solve problems in protecting them online and offline as a whole.

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Strategies for Protecting Intellectual Property Rights in Online Education Platform Software

(By Gao Shaoyi, Li Rong)Online education is becoming increasingly more important to educational and training industries due to the impact of Covid-19. Online education platforms provide various educational services including course video recording, live online teaching, personalized teaching and instructing, test question searching, work assessment, etc., which to some extent reduce the effect of suspension of on-campus classes on teachers and students. There are many online education platform developers and a lot of online education platform software products launched. Some software brands are copied from others. Therefore, for online education platform software developers, giving a protection for intellectual property rights in their online education platforms in all respects is the only way to gain more core competitive advantages and succeed in today’s market.

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China Laws and Regulations Update in April 2020

1.Opinions (I) on Legally and Appropriately Dealing with Civil Cases Arising from the Covid-19 Pandemic

Promulgated by the Supreme People’s Court

Document No. F.F.[2020] 12

Promulgation date: 20 April 2020                            

Opinions is comprised of ten items relating to use of support services provided by legal authorities, accurate application of force majeure rules, legally and appropriately dealing with contract, labor and other cases, exemplary damages, suspension of time limit on legal actions and extension of the period of legal proceedings, aid and support from legal authorities and companies. In general, the Opinions are given mainly from four aspects below.

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As “Changing Face Images” Becomes a Hot Issue, Can ZAO Use Portraits of Its Users at Its Own Discretion by the User Agreement?

There is a widespread distrust in high tech companies around the world since the scandal of the Cambridge Analytic information of Bookface broke out. A user agreement for ZAO, a Chinese-made app for changing human face images in videos became a hot issue on the internet the other day because of its provision that no person can use the app without giving the right to use their face images permanently. Many people thought that the app developer Changsha SHEER Network Technology Inc. (“ZAO Company”) infringed the user’s portrait right and privacy.

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For What Reason Should an E-Group Administrator Be Brought to Account for an Unauthorized Piece of Work Transmitted through the E-Group: Indirect or Direct Infringement?

(By Albert Chen)Last year Beijing Intellectual Property Tribunal dealt with an infringement case involving a QQ group and made the same decision as the first-trial court that the group’s administrator should be responsible for the infringement, but with different reasons. Detailed analysis of differences in the reasons for decision given by the two courts will help you answer the question of whether the group administrator should be brought to account for direct or indirect infringement.

Case Introduction

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What Startups Need to Know to Protect Their IPR in China

 (By You Yunting) I was once asked by a journalist what the foundation of intellectual property  courts and the ratification of the Opinions on Quicker Development of the Globally Influential Scientific and Technological Innovation Center matter to small and medium-sized startups, and replied the outcome of those two events were the same, both of which ultimately aimed to enhance the awareness of intellectual property throughout our society and guide small and medium-sized enterprises to establish a competition barrier and a management philosopher on how to avoid infringing others’ intellectual property rights. As governmental authorities define and set official instructions and policies, each startup should take full use of its intellectual property during daily operation, trying to become positioned to succeed, just like a well-known Chinese aphorism says that even the pig can fly when the typhoon comes. Combined with my experiences, this article mainly deals with the issue of how small and medium-sized startups seek intellectual property protection both internally and externally.

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China Laws and Regulations Update in July 2014

  1. The Legislative Affairs Office of the State Council Releases the newly revised Copyright Law of the People’s Republic of China (under Review) and Solicits Public Opinions for It

On 6 June 2014, the Legislative Affairs Office of the State Council released the newly revised Copyright Law of the People’s Republic of China (under Review) and solicited public opinions for it. The deadline for opinion solicitation will be 5 July 2014.

What is most significantly revised according to the draft copyright law under review includes provisions on objects, contents, ownership and the validity period of rights within the scope of copyright. Also, it has stipulated more penalties that will be imposed on those who infringe others’ copyrights and has set forth means of enforcement by administrative authorities concerned, who have powers of seizure and confiscation, which was first stipulated by laws.

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Intellectual Property Analysis on the Dilemma of Yunnan Baiyao

yunnanbaiyao

(By You Yunting)Abstract: The Yunnan Baiyao Group Co., Ltd had used its good historical reputation, its customer’s curiosity about its ingredients and the protection afforded to a state-secret recipe to make large profits. However, with the proliferation of awareness of an individual’s rights and the gradual strengthening of democratic consciousness, its enterprise institutions and culture are eroding consumer confidence in the brand and ruining its business reputation in the eyes of consumers.

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China’s Latest Laws and Regulations in April 2013

I. The Supreme People’s Court and Local People’s Courts Successively Released White Books on Judicial Protection of Intellectual Property in 2012 and Model Cases.

On April 22, before World Intellectual Property Day, the Supreme People’s Court released the White Book on Judicial Protection of Intellectual Property By Chinese Courts in 2012 (the ”White Book”) and Model Cases embodying new Issues related to intellectual property protection.

Afterwards, the local people’s courts successively released local white books on local intellectual property protection and local model cases. On April 25, the Shanghai High People’s Court held a press conference and released the White Book of the Shanghai People’s Court on Intellectual Property Adjudication in 2012 and Ten Key Cases.

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Key Points to Foreign Company’s IPR Litigation Preparation in China

By Luo Yanjie

With the development of economy, China pays more and more attention to the protection of intellectual property. But whether the patent, trademark or copyright, a lot of high value intellectual property rights belong to foreign companies. Facing the still serious infringing situation, the civil lawsuit is still the most common and reliable means to strike infringement. As for foreign investors, what deserves the attention when preparing lawsuit materials? Today we would like to share the topic with readers as follows:

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Is It Infringing to Show Others’ Trademarks on Exhibitions?

By Luo Yanjie

Previously, our website introduced issues of trademark and patent in China exhibition: Legal Issues concerning Trademark during the Exhibition in China, Patent Issues for Attention on the Exhibition in China. Recently, a customer told our attorneys that they found a company using their registered trademarks for the promotion on similar goods in an exhibition. The company learned a little Chinese law and they know only Chinese patent law provides that “offer to sell” is infringement. So they ask our advice about that if using other’s registered trademarks constitute trademark infringement?

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