Vivien Chan & Co. is a full-service law practice with offices in Hong Kong SAR (1985) and Beijing (1993). The firm is consistently recognised as a premier law firm for and in Greater China, and has over 30 years of knowledge of the legal culture and market dynamics.
The firm's lawyers produce regular publications for clients. These provide updates on significant changes and developments on the area of intellectual property law in China and the wider Asia-Pacific region.
Follow this link to access publications by Vivien Chan & Co from 2020.
China's top 10 trademark developments |
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Anna Mae Koo, Ann Xu Vivien Chan & Co's experts review and list the top 10 developments from China in 2021. The highlights include the bad faith provision against trademark squatters and agents, the suspension of refusal review pending the disposition of prior marks, the stricter examination of specifications for international registrations, and increased penalties against trademark infringers. |
China Updates: case study on trademark infringement on short-term video content platform, TikTok |
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Vivien Chan, Ken Hung Since Short-form video content has been dominating the social media landscape in recent years. It is an effective medium to catch mass attention in no time. In China, the most popular platforms for short-form videos include TikTok, Kuaishou, Xiaohongshu and WeChat Video. Enterprises have started t take advantage of short-form videos to build their brand image and directly engage with their customers to boost sales, and at the same time these short-form video platforms become the new spots for IP infringement. |
The new personal information protection law in China |
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Vivien Chan, Owen Tse After rounds of public consultation on the draft laws, the Personal Information Protection Law (PIPL) has finally been officially passed by the Chinese legislature on 20 August 2021. The PIPL imposes stringent legal restrictions on the processing, use and management of personal data, and it signals China’s important first step to align its personal information protection laws to international standards. |
The amended law on administrative penalty and related customs provisions |
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Vivien Chan, Fandy Ip Customs enforcement in China has been an effective way for foreign brand owners to stop counterfeit shipments. Brand owners can utilize such practical enforcement strategy even more now in view of the newly effective amended Law on Administrative Penalty and the Amended Provisions of the PRC Customs on the Procedures for Handling Administrative Penalties Cases, both of which just came into force on July 15, 2021. The Amended Provision is the first substantive revision since 2014. |
All-rounded protection strategy for your mobile apps in mainland China |
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Vivien Chan, Ken Hung Since the rise of mobile commerce, sales and promotional campaigns are no longer confined to third party e-commerce and social media platforms, and to many brands, the new battlefield is now the brands’ mobile apps. Mobile apps have nowadays gone beyond as platforms providing information on the brands and their products, but often as key tools to the brands’ loyalty programmes, online sales and interaction with customers. |
The must knows for conducting business as usual amid COVID-19 |
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Vivien Chan, Patty Chan Against the backdrop of COVID-19, social distancing is encouraged, and physical gatherings are being minimised. However, business has to keep going - documents have to get executed and meetings have to be held. Working from home has become a common arrangement. The article summarises what you need to know in order to keep the business running amid COVID-19 given the new norms of adopting virtual execution of documents, conducting virtual meetings and allowing employees to work from home. |
Hong Kong SAR patent protection: Why is significant to your business? |
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Vivien Chan, Owen Tse For commercial reasons, many companies around the world in the recent decades have engaged factories in mainland China to manufacture their products. At the same time, it is also widely recognised that working factories in mainland China comes with a certain degree of risk that their products may be counterfeit or sold to third parties without authority. As such, companies nowadays are generally aware of the importance of securing patent rights in main in mainland China. However, companies often neglect securing their rights in Hong Kong SAR, which, for reasons stated in this article, shall always be considered. |
Toothless tiger no more: new rules on penalties in China's copyright law amendment |
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Vivien Chan, Anna Mae Koo The new amendment to China's Copyright Law, which is slated to take effect on June 1 2021, would be the first substantive revision of the law in nearly two decades. These development are in line with recent legislative development to amplify deterrence against IP infringement in China. |
Roadmap to tackling cyber frauds and email scams in Hong Kong SAR |
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Vivien Chan, Owen Tse Cyber frauds, in particular email scams, have become one of the most common forms of fraud perpetrated against individuals and organisations internationally with the rise of the digital economy and electronic communication. Fraudsters continue to find ways to hack into electronic communication systems and they would often impersonate a business partner or employee to deceive victims in remitting funds to bank accounts held by them. |
Our tips for domain name arbitration from a China perspective |
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Vivien Chan, Ken Hung The bad faith registration of domain names can disrupt businesses of brand owners. Cybersquatters may use such domains to direct web traffic to unrelated commercial entities or may even use them to sell counterfeit products, steal customers’ personal information or run deceptive schemes. This article will briefly explain the basics of domain name arbitration, which is a fast and cost-effective way in getting back the domains, and share our experience in getting successful outcomes. |
Getting ready for Myanmar’s new Trademark Law |
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Vivien Chan, Anna Mae Koo After the long-awaited enactment of Myanmar's new Trademark Law in 2019, the Burmese finally ushered in a new age of intellectual property rights protection. The 2019 Law signals Myanmar's important first step to improve intellectual property rights protection to international standards, and provides a more certain structure to its trademark registration regime as it emerges as one of the most exciting nations in South-East Asia for foreign investors. |
