China Law Blog

AmCham Beijing is putting on what looks to be a wildly helpful seminar entitled, "Best Practices in Running a Low-cost IPR Protection Program." It will be from 7:30-10 a.m. at the Beijing American Club located at the China Resources Building, 8 Jianguomen Beidajie in Beijing.

AmCham describes this event as follows:

Protecting intellectual property rights (IPR) is not just a job for companies that patented inventions or make DVDs - any company with a brand name is vulnerable to Chinese competitors who can take advantage of your company's IPR by selling knock-off goods or by providing services under your company's name. Even if you think your brand is safe, how do you ensure that your suppliers or distributors are not substituting fake products for your legitimates?

Operators of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) know that, due to smaller budgets, SMEs are hard pressed to withstand the crippling effects on profit margins that unchecked IPR abuse can have.

However, neither do they have the budget or personnel to employ teams of lawyers and investigators to curtail these IPR abuses. So what to do?

Whether you are currently an SME operator or you have ever considered starting your own company, this AmCham event will provide answers to many of your questions about low-cost strategies to safeguard your intellectual property.

Our all-star panel of IP experts, including Mark Cohen, the Senior IPR Attache at the US Embassy, Jack Chang, the Chairman of the Quality Brands Protection Committee, and Eugene Yu, the Chief China Representative for the Motion Picture Association, will share their tips and best practices on how to employ both clever preventative strategies as well as how to enforce your IP rights on a tight budget.

Registration will be from 7:30-8 a.m., with breakfast, presentations and Q&A from 8-10 a.m.

I like the conference's emphasis on IP protection for SMEs because, in so many ways, budget constraints force SMEs to achieve that protection differently from large companies. Where the large company typically can do whatever it takes to protect its IP, the small company must wisely pick and choose from a long list of options. Though it is impossible to achieve complete protection, I have seen companies achieve excellent protection for very little money and I have seen companies spend more and completely miss the boat. I would expect this conference would help SMEs lean more to the former.

Cost is 100RMB for members, 250RMB for nonmembers. Click here for online enrollment.