Copyright pirates

Macau businessmen planning to do business in Mainland China should first register their brands as quickly as possible and study intellectual property law extensively, experts stated yesterday in an advice session for local traders.
During the seminar, Ma Yongli, a patent expert from China Patent Agent (H.K.) Ltd., said Macau companies have to be careful when patenting products in different regions since different areas have different patent regulations.
“If Macau companies register a patent in China that is only effective in China, not in Taiwan or Hong Kong, the periods where a patent is protected varies. In China, patent protection is for 10 years, and in Hong Kong it can be eight years or 20 years,” the patent expert told participating businessmen.
The patent expert also warned that while in the US and other countries during intellectual property registration a company has to prove it has or will use a brand or product, in Mainland China intellectual property registration is on a “first come, first served basis” where no evidence of prior use or ownership has to be given during registration.
Don’t steal my idea
“We wanted to know more about patent and brand registration,” Philip Lao, responsible for products and marketing for local sports manufacturer BeeSports Co. Ltd., told Business daily.
“Our company is from Macau but the brand is registered in China, where we make and sell our products. Lately, other people in China have started making similar products to the ones we have patented so we want to know how to protect ourselves,” Lao told Business Daily.
The legal expert from China, Mr. Ma, also stated he hoped more inventions, new patents and property registrations could be evident in the city.
According to the DSE, in the first six months of 2016 a total of 5,599 new brands and 24 patents were registered in the MSAR, a year-on-year decrease of 4.7 per cent and 35.2 per cent, respectively.
Last year, the number of trademark applications in Macau reached 13,140, with companies from Mainland China, Macau and the United States the top three sources of applications in the city in 2015.
For Mr. Ma more incentives for innovation for residents and mechanisms to prevent the migration of talented human resources could be made, while local businessman would have to pay close attention to intellectual property issues, something Mainland China businessmen have learned through experience.
“Just remember that the Nike CEO has said that if all Nike factories were attacked by terrorists the company would still survive since its brand was its most valuable possession,” Mr. Ma said.
Do your homework
“More and more Macau businessmen are going to Mainland China for arbitration, and they might not know how to apply for intellectual property rights or how to face any problems that might arise,” Macau Trade and Investment Promotion Institute (IPIM) Executive Director Gloria Ung told Business Daily.
“In this event [local businessman] can learn the procedures for patents, and meet lawyers that can help them with any legal issues that might arise in Mainland China,” she said.
The IPIM Executive Director also told Business Daily that another seminar will be held at the Macau International Fair (MIF) on the topic of arbitration, with IPIM having signed a memorandum of understanding with the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT) to bring experienced intellectual property speakers to Macau.
Regarding local businessmen going to Mainland China the IPIM Executive Director suggested special attention be paid to rules and regulations concerning intellectual property, saying “understand who their partners in the region are in order to not get cheated.”
The event was a joint effort by the Macau Trade and Investment Promotion Institute (IPIM), the Macao Economic Services (DSE) and the Macau Lawyers Association (AAM) with copyright law experts from China Patent Agent (H.K.) Ltd. and Clt Patent & Trademark (H.K.) Ltd.