Intellectual Property Rights in China – WIPO Predictions and New Technology
At Amazon Sellers Lawyer, we believe it is becoming more important for Amazon sellers to protect their intellectual property rights overseas.
When you file for Copyright, Patent, and or Trademark protection, your intellectual property rights only protect your business in the countries you apply for.
When you file for protection in other countries it allows you to bring a law suit in that country. This brings the enforcement to the infringer’s home court.
Think about it: what does a factory owner in China or Vietnam care about a US court?
Updates on Protecting Intellectual Property Rights in China
Francis Gurry, Director of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), said that he expects China to become the world’s second highest international patent applicant in the next two years. This is good news for Amazon sellers. China is becoming more and more compliant with WIPO and the law. The issues with corruption are beginning to fade especially in prominent jurisdictions there.
Why China is Increasing its Protection of Intellectual Property Rights
According to General Director Gurry, “China is arising into intellectual property and technological power ….” China expanded its laws to try and keep up with the growing eCommerce industry. China is also trying to enforce intellectual property rights. China ranked third in terms of internationally patent applications filed in 2015. Mr. Gurry also noted that the number should double in 2018.
Easy Use of WIPO by Amazon Sellers to Protect to Intellectual Property Rights
Directory Gurry also discussed new technology that WIPO unveiled which allows a machine to translate Patent documents into English. WIPO’s new technology translates Chinese, Japanese, and Korean patent documents into English. At Amazon Sellers Lawyer, we have seen problems in which seller’s accounts or listings are suspended due to pending international intellectual property applications and baseless complaints. Hopefully for sellers, this new technology will expedite the application process. The new technology will hopefully allow more clarity among rights owners .
WIPO rolled out a trial version of the Chinese to English translation utility on a public beta test platform. In addition, they are planning to build upon the translation service to accommodate French and other languages.
Amazon sellers need to be proactive. Amazon sellers need to protect their intellectual property rights and their businesses. Hopefully. these improvements and predictions from WIPO are a sign of an international trend towards cooperation in enforcing intellectual property rights.