Waiting for the Organiser. The Webinar Will Begin Shortly

Transcription

1 Waiting for the Organiser The Webinar Will Begin Shortly

2 Branding your Food and Beverage Products in China: What you need to know about IP Protection Ms. Rainy Liu China IPR SME Helpdesk External Expert

3 Welcome to the Webinar Helika Jurgenson China IPR SME Helpdesk Project Officer

4 Webinar Interaction Tools

5 Snapshot: Helpdesk Services

6 Today s Speaker Name: Rainy Liu Firm: Beijing Lawconstant Location: Beijing, China rainy@lawconstant.com.cn Rainy is the director of Beijing Lawconstant. Owing to her master degree of Intellectual Property Law in United Kingdom, Rainy has specialised in trademark-related work in China since She has handled a number of trademark, copyright, domain names cases. To her clients, she is not a trademark attorney only but also a business advisor for the brand management.

7 Agenda What Classes to choose for food and beverage industry in China? How to choose the mark, Chinese or my local language? Any particular information I have to pay attention to for Food and Beverage business? How to deal with Exhibition and distributors in China?

8 What Classes to Choose for Food and Beverage Industry in China? Class1: raw materials, such as addictive preparations for food or beverages; Class2: colour materials for food; Class5: baby food, baby milk powders and etc; Class6: containers in metal, so it can be your package; Class9: mobile APP, online publications, push notifications or advertisement used on modern business; Class16: Publications, brochures; Class18: shopping bags;

9 What Classes to Choose for Food and Beverage Industry in China? Class29: Meat, fish, poultry and game; meat extracts; preserved, frozen, dried and cooked fruits and vegetables; jellies, jams, compotes; eggs; milk and milk products; edible oils and fats. Class30:Coffee, tea, cocoa and artificial coffee; rice; tapioca and sago; flour and preparations made from cereals; bread, pastries and confectionery; edible ices; sugar, honey, treacle; yeast, baking-powder; salt; mustard; vinegar, sauces (condiments); spices; ice. Class31:Raw and unprocessed agricultural, aquacultural, horticultural and forestry products; raw and unprocessed grains and seeds; fresh fruits and vegetables, fresh herbs; natural plants and flowers; bulbs, seedlings and seeds for planting; live animals; foodstuffs and beverages for animals; malt.

10 What Classes to Choose for Food and Beverage Industry in China? Class 32: Beers; mineral and aerated waters and other nonalcoholic beverages; fruit beverages and fruit juices; syrups and other preparations for making beverages. Class 33: Alcoholic beverages (except beers). Class35: Advertising; business management; business administration; office functions, organization for exhibions, online shops, sales for others, marketings, commercial authorization business; Class39:Transport; packaging and storage of goods; travel arrangement. Class40: Treatment of materials, food processing; Class43: Services for providing food and drink; temporary accommodation.

11 How to Choose the Mark, Chinese or my Local Language? According to Import and Export Food Label Management Regulation, the products should have labels in Chinese, including the place of manufacture, import and export company, components of the products, manufacturers and the Chinese name of the brand, so it is better to register local brand and Chinese name both. Normally, the Chinese name can be the literate translation or the phonetical translation to the brand in local language.

12 Very Important Points to Know while Choosing a Brand in China Make sure it is not a direct description to the products, such as latte for milk or coffee, coke for coke, excellent for any products, otherwise the mark will be rejected and the only way to overcome the rejection will be long-termed use for the brand in mainland in China for at least three years; Make sure the Chinese brand does not contain any words in bad meanings or violate the public society, such as Budda is crazy and etc. Make sure the mark is not similar to any brand of others on similar products, so finding a reliable IP agent which were registered on Chinese Trademark Office in China is very important as they can help you for search before filing.

13 Poll I Do I need to choose all classes you listed? A. Yes B. No C. Not sure

14 Any Particular Information I have to Pay Attention to for Food and Beverage Business? If you are going to open an online shop on Tmall or Taobao or JD, it is necessary to apply for your brand in Class 35 in China As you have to claim label in China, so it is better to consider filing your brand in Class 16, namely printed matters products If you have your trading company in China already, make sure you apply for the mark on import and export agencies

15 Poll II What will be the result if I haven t applied for my brand in Class 35 but I still want to open an online shop on Tmall or JD? A. I cannot run my online shop there B. I still can run my online shop there C. I don t know

16 How to Deal with Exhibition and Distributors in China? Before attending Exhibition in China, please make sure you apply for your brand first; Before signing the distributor contract, please make sure your brand had been applied in China; If you did not apply for the mark yet but signed the distribution contract already, please make sure you stated clearly who is the owner of the brand, and the distributor in China is only authorized to sell the products

17 Case Study I A company manufactured the milk products in Netherland, and its brand is ABC (It cannot be revealed, so just a made-up name), in 2015, it attended the China Food and Beverage Exhibition and then decided to apply for the mark on milk products in China. Then its mark was rejected because there is an identical mark ABC on milk products already which was registered in 2015, which was 3 months earlier than the date of application of its mark. The owner is an import and export company in Shenzhen. Finally the Netherland company has to get the mark back by signing an exclusive distribution contract with this Import and Export company in Shenzhen. The reason for this result is because, the Shenzhen Company is not the business partner of the Netherland company, but just see its brand in the Exhibition in 2015, so it applied for its mark, and by law in China, it is quite difficult to challenge the mark was filed in bad faith unless your brand is very famous in mainland in China before the application date of the mark filed by another party

18 Case Study II A chips company manufactured chips and other cereal products and snacks and it got its brand a cute chef device with chips on related products in China years ago. Then it found out there is an Import and Export Company in Zhejiang applied for a very closely similar mark on milk products and beverages and snacks in China, so the chips company filed opposition against the Chinese company s mark, and it won but then the Chinese company appealed, and after three years going after a court trial, the Chinese company s mark was finally canceled on snacks by us as it was confirmed as infringement to the chips company s copyright, but as snacks are quite different to milk and beverages, so the registration on milk and beverages by the Chinese company was kept as registered.

19 Take-away Messages Apply for your brand in Chinese and your local language; If you are producing foods, but maybe will manufacture the Beverages in future, please make sure to file the mark on both of the products as early as you can; Before going to Exhibition or signing contract with your Chinese partners, remember to apply for your marks first or check first, and if you found out they were filed by your business partner already, request them to return the brand back before you signing the contract; Keep all the use evidence of your brand in China, including your bills of ladings, order s or contracts; invoices; photos of the package of the products and make sure the date should be on all the documents

20 Q&A Name: Rainy Liu Firm: Beijing Lawconstant Location: Beijing, China

21 China IPR Helpdesk Factsheets and Guidelines Check it out now!

22 PLAY the Serious Game Interactive training and learning tool Common business scenarios to experience doing business, protecting and enforcing IP in China Available online at: serious-game/

23 Thank You! Follow us on Social Media for latest News Developments Projects Activities Training material Channel: Helpdesk China IPR SME Helpdesk China IPR SME Helpdesk