Rednote and a Foreign Artist’s “Half Victory” in China’s Courts

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Category: SINOTALKS® In Brief

Images: Andrea Stöckel, Vintage Art Music Cats;
Karen Arnold, Do Not Copy Stamp (Publicdomainpictures.net)

An appellate court in Beijing just delivered a victory to a Belgian artist in a five-year-long legal battle, upholding an earlier ruling of the Beijing Intellectual Property Court that his paintings have been plagiarized for years by a Chinese artist. A key step towards this victory was the Belgian artist’s success in keeping the case in the Beijing Intellectual Property Court. Artists around the world seeking to protect their copyrights should understand both the positive actions this court took in this case and the confusion that remains as a result of the court’s decision, as well as why they should leverage platforms such as Rednote to avoid ordeals like the one experienced by the Belgian artist.Read more

In Brief

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Category: SINOTALKS® In Brief

Image: Pixels Hunter (Shutterstock.com)

Amid foreign businesses’ growing concerns about COVID restrictions, China’s five-year intellectual property plan may help instill confidence. If implemented well, the plan will help China establish a strong intellectual property protection mechanism that will facilitate the country’s post-COVID economic recovery. How can the plan be implemented well?Read more

In Brief

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Category: SINOTALKS® In Brief

Images: Wright Studio;
Lightspring (Shutterstock.com)

Justice delayed is justice denied. The prompt delivery of judgments is particularly important in cases involving infringement of intellectual property rights, where holders of these rights need to minimize their losses by stopping the infringement swiftly. China does offer a solution. How does it work? Read more

SinoInsights

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Category: SinoInsights™

Image: Mohamed Mahmoud Hassan, Lightbulb, Idea, Innovation (Publicdomainpictures.net)

How can the development of China’s Case Guidance System promote the country’s judicial protection of intellectual property rights, helping achieve the goals set forth in the Plan for the Judicial Protection of Intellectual Property Rights in People’s Courts (2021-2025)?Read more

Guiding Case 115

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Category: SinoInsights™

Image: Anastasia Amstutz, Windshield Rain (Publicdomainpictures.net)

In December 2019, the Supreme People’s Court of China released Guiding Case No. 115. Four months later, in April 2020, the second-instance judgment upon which this Guiding Case is based was selected by the Supreme People’s Court as one of the “Top 10 Intellectual Property Cases of Chinese Courts in 2019”. Why is this case so important? It is all related to the concepts of “act preservation” and “functional features” of inventions.Read more

In Brief

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Category: SINOTALKS® In Brief

Images: Michal Sanca;
Sazhnieva Oksana;
Artreef (Shutterstock.com)

What should celebrities do to protect their names in China? Why does Alibaba need to take some remedial measures to avoid further scrutiny from authorities?Read more

In Brief

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Category: SINOTALKS® In Brief

Image: Den Rise (Shutterstock.com)

Apart from China’s Guiding Cases, legal practitioners, business executives, and other stakeholders must not forget about Typical Cases, another category of representative cases that the Supreme People’s Court of China can release to guide Chinese courts’ adjudication. What are Typical Cases? Why are they significant?Read more

Guiding Case 100

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Category: SinoInsights™

Image: Lilla Frerichs, Indian Corn 1 (Publicdomainpictures.net)

Before the release of Guiding Case No. 100, the Supreme People’s Court of China released Guiding Case No. 92 to establish this principle: in a case involving infringement of rights to a new plant variety, when the related DNA fingerprinting test result cannot provide a clear answer, the allegedly infringing party, i.e., the defendant, has the burden to prove that the allegedly infringing plant is different from the plant for which variety rights have been granted.  Guiding Case No. 100 shows what the defendant can do to meet this burden of proof.Read more

Guiding Case 160

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Category: SinoInsights™

Image: Heru Purwanto, Pomelo On The Tree (Publicdomainpictures.net)

Guiding Case No. 160 addresses a fundamental issue: when rights to a new plant variety are granted, what falls within the scope of protection?  According to China’s legislation, propagation materials of the plant for which variety rights have been granted are clearly protected.  Yet, what are “propagation materials”?  Unfortunately, no definition can be found in China’s legislation.  Guiding Case No. 160 fills the legal gap by setting the criteria for such determination.Read more

Guiding Case 92

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Category: SinoInsights™

Image: Andrew Schmidt, Corn On The Cob (Publicdomainpictures.net)

Guiding Case No. 92 provides guidance on an important issue frequently encountered in cases involving infringement of rights to new plant varieties: how to determine whether two plants are of the same variety, when the related DNA fingerprinting test result cannot provide a clear answer.  According to this Guiding Case, when this happens, the allegedly infringing party, i.e., the defendant, has the burden to prove that the allegedly infringing plant is different from the plant for which variety rights have been granted.  How did the court justify the shifting of the burden to the defendant?Read more

Plants

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Category: SinoInsights™

Image: George Hodan, Agriculture (Publicdomainpictures.net)

The Supreme People’s Court of China released Guiding Case Nos. 92, 100, and 160 to clarify fundamental issues related to the protection of rights to new plant varieties that were left unanswered by the country’s legislation and judicial interpretations.  Yet, have these three Guiding Cases essentially lost their significance, considering that their guiding principles, as analyzed in this article, have already been incorporated into the Supreme People’s Court’s latest judicial interpretation related to new plant varieties?  Dr. Mei Gechlik explains why the answer is negative and discusses related implications. Read more