Intellectual property rights (IPRs) have been acknowledged and protected in China since 1979. China has accepted the major international conventions on protection of IPRs
Domestically, protection of intellectual property laws has also been established by government legislation, administrative regulations, and decrese in the areas of trademark, copyright and patent. This has led to the creation of a comprehensive legal framework to protect both local and foreign intellectual property.
The legal framework for protecting intellectual property in China is built on three national laws passed by the National People’s Congress (NPC): the Patent Law, the Trademark Law and the Copyright Law.
Under the WTO’s Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights, patents should be available in WTO member states for any inventions, in all fields of technology, and the term of protection available should be the minimum twenty years. Different types of patents may have varying patent terms (i.e. durations)
GMG offers intellectual property services by administering trademark and patent registrations as well as process multiple cross-border applications. We understand that China poses as a challenging environment for intellectual property protection so we work hard to ensure your ideas are legally protected.
TRADEMARK REGISTRATION IN CHINA
PATENT REGISTRATION IN CHINA
COPYRIGHT REGISTRATION IN CHINA
TRADEMARK REGISTRATION IN HONG KONG
PATENT REGISTRATION IN HONG KONG
COPYRIGHT REGISTRATION IN HONG KONG
TRADEMARK REGISTRATION IN JAPAN
PATENT REGISTRATION IN JAPAN
COPYRIGHT REGISTRATION IN JAPAN
TRADEMARK REGISTRATION IN EUROPEAN UNION (28 COUNTRIES)
PATENT REGISTRATION IN EUROPEAN UNION (28 COUNTRIES)
COPYRIGHT REGISTRATION IN EUROPEAN UNION (28 COUNTRIES)
WHAT IS A COPYRIGHT?
Copyright is the set of exclusive rights granted to the author or creator of an original work, including the right to copy, distribute and adapt the work. These rights can be licensed, transferred and/or assigned. Copyright lasts for a certain time period after which the work is said to enter the public domain. Copyright applies to a wide range of works that are substantive and fixed in a medium. Some jurisdictions also recognize “moral rights” of the creator of a work, such as the right to be credited for the work.
Since the 19th Century copyright is described under the umbrella term intellectual property along with patents and trademarks.
Copyright has been internationally standardized, lasting between fifty and one hundred years from the author’s death, or a shorter period for anonymous or corporate authorship. Generally, copyright is enforced as a civil matter, though some jurisdictions do apply criminal sanctions.
The National People’s Congress approved the Amendment to China’s Copyright Law (the “Amendment”) on October 27, 2001, to take effect immediately. The Amendment contains revisions and additional provisions to bring the Law into closer conformity with TRIPs and the Berne Convention. China is a signatory of the WTO, Berne Convention, Copyright Treaty, Rome Convention for the Protection of Performers, Producers of Phonograms and Broadcasting Organizations, WIPO Copyright Treaty and WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty.
WORKS PROTECTED IN CHINA
- Written works
- Oral works
- Musical, drama, quyi, and choreographed works
- Artistic and architectural works
- Photographic works
- Cinematographic and audio-visual works
- Graphic works and models related to engineering designs, product designs, and maps
- Computer software
- Other works specified by laws and regulations
EXCLUSIVE RIGHTS BY COPYRIGHT OWNERS
1. Right of publication
2. Right of authorship
3. Right of alteration
4. Right of protection against distortion
5. Right of reproduction
6. Right of leasing
7. Right of public performance of a mechanical work
8. Right of exhibition
9. Right of performance
10. Right of broadcast
11. Right of distribution over an information network
12. Right of adaptation
13. Right of translation
14. Right of compilation and annotation
PATENTS IN CHINA
A patent is a set of exclusive rights granted by a state (national government) to an inventor or their assignee for a limited period of time in exchange for a public disclosure of an invention.
The procedure for granting patents, the requirements placed on the patentee, and the extent of the exclusive rights vary widely between countries according to national laws and international agreements. Typically, however, a patent application must include one or more claims defining the invention which must be new, non-obvious, and useful or industrially applicable. In many countries, certain subject areas are excluded from patents, such as business methods and mental acts.
The exclusive right granted to a patentee in most countries is the right to prevent others from making, using, selling, or distributing the patented invention without permission.
Under the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights, patents should be available in WTO member states for any inventions, in all fields of technology, and the term of protection available should be the minimum twenty years. Different types of patents may have varying patent terms (i.e. durations).