How Does the US Government Determine Whether the Parallel Import of Trademarks Is Legal?

Record III of the Visit to New York

(By You Yunting) From late of March, the author visited the US at the invitation of the US government in order to get a better understanding of how the US IPR system operates. On Monday of the second week there, the author visited Wiggin and Dana LLP and Pryor Cashman LLP, two New York law firms. The law offices visited on that day were all in New York’s central business district and had spacious offices, with luxurious decorations, and the view outside was all of beautiful river scenery or of the Apple Countdown. The following is the record of that day’s visit.

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What Chinese Intellectual Property Legal Issues Are American Companies Dissatisfied With?

Day three of the visit to the United States

(By You Yunting) Beginning at the end of this March, on the invitation of the US government, I visited America with the goal of understanding its IPR system. On my third day in the US, I visited the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (“PhRMA”), the United States-China Business Council (“USCBC”), the United States Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”), and the East Asia Bureau of the US Department of State. The following is the brief record of my meetings on that day.

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The Patent Prosecution Highway is Piloting in China

—introduction on PPH programs between China and USA, Japan

Recently, China government has speeded up the process of international patent cooperation. Currently, the Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) Program between China and several other countries has started or prepared to start. Among the cooperations, the Sino-Japan PPH is piloting from 1st November, 2011, the Sino-America PPH will be carried out on 1st December, 2011, and Sino-Korea program will start from March, 2012.

PPH allows applicants to obtain corresponding patents faster and more efficiently, avoids unnecessary repeated works of the OSF, simplifies the prosecution procedure and benefits the applicant as well as the industry. PPH was first tried out by and between U.S.A and Japan in 2006, and officially operated from 2008. So far, South Korea and some European countries have participated in the program.

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