China Law Blog

Interesting post on IP Dragon, entitled "What Global Players Could Learn From Wii versus Vii."
It is on how Nintendo is beating back a (legal/illegal?) Chinese rival making a game called Vii that mimics and even seeks to improve upon the Wii. IP Dragon puts forth the following fine tips on staying ahead of counterfeiters:

• Launch your product in every country on the same date;

• If you build up a hype you have to be able to supply demand afterwards, to suck out the air for counterfeiters;

• Listen to the market needs and keep improving and differentiating your product all the time;

• Register trademarks, design rights and patents in countries where you can expect infringements (including China) and enforce infringements fiercely (including China).

An excellent Chinese lawyer with whom we frequently work is of the view that the most effective protection against counterfeiters by far is to trademark your brand and then constantly update it. He believes doing this will usually (but, of course, not always) preclude the need for a patent.

For more on the issue of Chinese counterfeiting, check out the following posts:

"China: Counterfeiting And Piracy -- The Issue And The Challenge";

"Update To China Counterfeiting And Piracy -- The Issue And The Challenge";

"Warner Brothers Fights Chinese Counterfeiters On Their Own Turf";

"Not Exactly Counterfeit -- New Balance Shoes And China's 'Third Shift'";

"Xiangyang Market Redux -- China Counterfeiting Keeps On Ticking";

"Microsoft On China Software Counterfeiting: That Feels Good, Can I Have Some More?".