Five things you need to know – Asia-Pacific
China
To promote IP education in primary and secondary schools, the Jilin Intellectual Property Office has invested nearly Rmb6 million (about $864,000) in an outreach project since 2016. By June 2020, the project had identified 103 province-level pilot primary and secondary schools for IP education, as well as another 99 model schools.
China
The China National IP Administration has reported “a stable trend” in IP development during the first half of 2020. With the number of filed trademarks increasing by 25% during this period, the total number of valid trademarks in China exceeded 27 million by the end of June. For more on the China filings landscape see page 22.
North Korea
A World Trademark Review investigation published in July found that technology giants Apple and Huawei have secured the highest number of trademark registrations in North Korea since 2018. Analysis of 2,781 international registrations designating North Korea reveals that since 2018 Huawei Technologies and Apple have designated the country in 145 and 139 registrations, respectively. The rest of the top five comprises South Korean entity Lotte Corporation with 42 registrations, California-based fruit breeding company International Fruit Genetics with 30, and Swiss firm Creative Perfume Company with 27.
The Philippines
The Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL) has proposed amendments to its Rules and Regulations in the Exercise of Enforcement Functions and Visitorial Power, which would give it the power to remove social media posts selling counterfeit goods. Ann N Edillon, director of the IPOPHL’s Enforcement Office, noted that these changes would allow the organisation to take down posts that sell infringing products through a warning notice and compliance order directed to the platform, pursuant to an administrative complaint of counterfeiting or piracy lodged before it. The IPOPHL would also be able to ask the National Telecommunications Commission to cut access to sites that violate IP rights.
South Korea
The Korean IP Office has published details about an anti-counterfeiting operation centred on four family members live-streaming on Instagram. According to the agency, South Korea’s IP Special Justice Police “found four members of the family who promoted and sold counterfeit products through social media live broadcasts such as Instagram”. Those arrested include the main offender, who is a 34-year-old female, and her husband and siblings. They are suspected of selling 26,000 counterfeit luxury goods including Chanel bags in a “secret workshop disguised as a home”.