intellectual property

China has a population of over 1.3 billion people and as of June 2020, 940 million ‘netizens’ – people actively involved in online communities. With Alibaba Group and JD leading the way, e-commerce is now well developed in China. According to the World Economic Forum, from January to November 2020...

With increasingly integrated global-value chains and the continuous drive to innovate, trade fairs have become one of the most important and most efficient instruments for accessing new markets worldwide. The Latin America IP SME Helpdesk has published a guide for European SMEs which provides an...

Trade secrets are a valuable and highly useful form of intellectual property right (IPR). As the name suggests however, trade secrets are a non-registrable form of intellectual property; they only enjoy legal protection if they are not disclosed publically. It is, therefore, crucial to prevent your...

Trade secrets are a valuable and highly useful form of intellectual property. Nearly all businesses in all industries and sectors have them. Nevertheless, they are often undervalued and overlooked by their owners. This is not least the case in the service sector where the relative value of trade...

A €20 million grant scheme has been launched to help European small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) access their intellectual property rights. Supported by the European Commission and the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO), the Ideas Powered for Business SME Fund is aimed at...

Champagne, Bordeaux, Parma Ham, Parmesan - each of these products is associated with a certain region and are renowned and trusted for their nature, quality, and authenticity. As a consumer, you are probably more familiar with Scotch, Cognac, and Bavarian beer than unnamed brands claiming to use the...

The European Commission has published a new Action Plan on Intellectual Property to help companies, especially small and medium-sized companies (SMEs), make the most of their inventions and creations. Intellectual property (IP) is a key driver for economic growth as it helps companies to valorise...

In 2011 China surpassed the United States as the world’s largest consumer market for the food and beverage (F&B) industry. Chinese demand for imported F&B products, fueled by food safety concerns involving domestically produced products such as the 2008 tainted milk scandal, has continued to rise...

The European Commission has now published a roadmap on the Intellectual Property (IP) action plan in order to effectively protect and manage the intellectual property of its citizens. The European Union is fighting to assume leadership in key industrial areas, improve the resilience in of its e...

While in the past, European companies came to China to take advantage of low-cost manufacturing for export, more recently, they have come to enter the Chinese domestic market, establish R&D, engage in cooperative development, take advantage of a skilled work force, establish suppliers, and develop...