4 ms·

Chinese customs are very proactive on brand defence. You simply need to have your trademark registered with them. http://www.forbes.com/sites/danharris/2015/1

by kweks 11y ago

Chinese customs are very proactive on brand defence. You simply need to have your trademark registered with them. http://www.forbes.com/sites/danharris/2015/10/12/how-to-protect-against-counterfeiting-register-your-china-trademark-with-china-customs/#51489d2310bf http://www.forbes.com/sites/danharris/2015/10/12/how-to-prot...

6stringmerc 11y ago
I would believe you but their copycat car industry is a direct refutation of such "proactive brand defence" you claim exists.
- kweks 11y ago
  You're free to believe your hunches. The reality is different. We've manufactured and exported brand-name products from China for over 30 years. In our experience, when a trademark is registered, Chinese customs is very proactive in seizing / destroying infringing property. The domestic market is definitely another story, but there are controls in place for the export market. The onus is on the brand owner to register their trademark - no different to registering a mark in any other jurisdiction. Legitimate business has been conducted with China for centuries, and China has every reason to defend foreign brands in order to protect its manufacturing industry.
  - studentrob 11y ago
    > The domestic market is definitely another story, but there are controls in place for the export market. I believe the domestic market is what's at stake for the OP. haogegebisai is Chinese for "good older brother tournament" and that site is all in Chinese
    - bflesch 11y ago
      Yes, we wouldn't want to give it away without a fight. Chinese people are crazy for gambling, and our business is on the right side of a very, very fine line between gambling and skill-based gaming. Thanks for the translation! I thought the gege was standing for GG (good game), a part of eSports slang. For the rest my Chinese is too rusty :/
      - studentrob 11y ago
        Oh you might be right about it being slang. My Chinese isn't great. I just like to pretend it is on the internet haha! Their website uses the characters 好哥哥 (haogege) and I don't see 比赛 (bisai) written anywhere. Maybe they changed it after getting the domain.
  - seanmcdirmid 11y ago
    You've got to know the Chinese trademark office exists, and you have to do it before your Chinese competitor does. There is a cottage industry in China of Chinese companies squatting in popular western trade marks via the trademark office. If the publicity is extra bad, you might get relief from the government, but there is no legal basis for that relief. (Incidentally, their was an article yesterday in Chinese investment firms taking well known international brands and using the name with a Chinese city pretended, like Shenzhen Blackrock...). A small startup usually won't register trademarks in markets they don't operate in. This wasn't a problem before since those markets weren't interested anyways. But given the whole Internet industry in China is basically built around shanzhai-style copying (much safer than doing original design and developing original IP), we are gong to see a lot more of is in the future.
  - 6stringmerc 11y ago
    The prevalence of "Chibson" knock-off Gibson guitars that have arrived in the United States indicates that China is more than willing to manufacture and export other people's name brand products without more than superficial policing. It would appear the trademark and brand protection policing is an indication of the other workmanship that can be expected from the nation.
pfarnsworth 11y ago
"simply" is the key word here.
- kweks 11y ago
  Just as 'simply' as you'd need to register a US trademark in Europe, for example. Just because you have a mark registered in the US, doesn't mean China (or any other jurisdiction) will magically know about it. There are solutions and structures in place - proper business practices dictate that you inform yourself and react appropriately.
  - bflesch 11y ago
    We've registered the trademark everywhere, but the actual process takes so long we haven't heard back from the agency yet. And it only covers our brand name and logo, which is only infringed on in a very minor way. Our brand isn't mentioned either in the marketing copy nor in the sourcecode.

by kweks 11y ago

6stringmerc 11y ago

I would believe you but their copycat car industry is a direct refutation of such "proactive brand defence" you claim exists.

kweks 11y ago
You're free to believe your hunches. The reality is different. We've manufactured and exported brand-name products from China for over 30 years. In our experience, when a trademark is registered, Chinese customs is very proactive in seizing / destroying infringing property. The domestic market is definitely another story, but there are controls in place for the export market. The onus is on the brand owner to register their trademark - no different to registering a mark in any other jurisdiction. Legitimate business has been conducted with China for centuries, and China has every reason to defend foreign brands in order to protect its manufacturing industry.
- studentrob 11y ago
  > The domestic market is definitely another story, but there are controls in place for the export market. I believe the domestic market is what's at stake for the OP. haogegebisai is Chinese for "good older brother tournament" and that site is all in Chinese
  - bflesch 11y ago
    Yes, we wouldn't want to give it away without a fight. Chinese people are crazy for gambling, and our business is on the right side of a very, very fine line between gambling and skill-based gaming. Thanks for the translation! I thought the gege was standing for GG (good game), a part of eSports slang. For the rest my Chinese is too rusty :/
    - studentrob 11y ago
      Oh you might be right about it being slang. My Chinese isn't great. I just like to pretend it is on the internet haha! Their website uses the characters 好哥哥 (haogege) and I don't see 比赛 (bisai) written anywhere. Maybe they changed it after getting the domain.
- seanmcdirmid 11y ago
  You've got to know the Chinese trademark office exists, and you have to do it before your Chinese competitor does. There is a cottage industry in China of Chinese companies squatting in popular western trade marks via the trademark office. If the publicity is extra bad, you might get relief from the government, but there is no legal basis for that relief. (Incidentally, their was an article yesterday in Chinese investment firms taking well known international brands and using the name with a Chinese city pretended, like Shenzhen Blackrock...). A small startup usually won't register trademarks in markets they don't operate in. This wasn't a problem before since those markets weren't interested anyways. But given the whole Internet industry in China is basically built around shanzhai-style copying (much safer than doing original design and developing original IP), we are gong to see a lot more of is in the future.
- 6stringmerc 11y ago
  The prevalence of "Chibson" knock-off Gibson guitars that have arrived in the United States indicates that China is more than willing to manufacture and export other people's name brand products without more than superficial policing. It would appear the trademark and brand protection policing is an indication of the other workmanship that can be expected from the nation.

pfarnsworth 11y ago

"simply" is the key word here.

kweks 11y ago
Just as 'simply' as you'd need to register a US trademark in Europe, for example. Just because you have a mark registered in the US, doesn't mean China (or any other jurisdiction) will magically know about it. There are solutions and structures in place - proper business practices dictate that you inform yourself and react appropriately.
- bflesch 11y ago
  We've registered the trademark everywhere, but the actual process takes so long we haven't heard back from the agency yet. And it only covers our brand name and logo, which is only infringed on in a very minor way. Our brand isn't mentioned either in the marketing copy nor in the sourcecode.