Services

The enforcement of intellectual property and associated rights in China has posed difficulties in the past and although some tangible improvement has been made in recent years, this has been mainly in the form of administrative action through various Government bodies and improved redress through the courts.

The main risk to loss of intellectual property still remains high, mainly, through the fraudulent actions of employees or outsiders. It is appropriate to state, however, that as more Chinese companies develop their own proprietary know-how and expand abroad, they also face the same problems in some areas of the world.

The risk to loss of intellectual property can be substantially reduced by a pragmatic

approach. First, as China operates on a "first-to-file" system for protection of intellectual property rights, it is essential to prioritize the registration of:

Trade marks and service marks.

Patents, know-how and trade secrets.

Copyright and related rights.

Designs.

and be sure to have sufficient internal safeguards, including thourough vetting of partners, associates and subcontractors, good control procedures, contractual policy enforcement, local personnel incentive policies.