Chang, Jack --- "Practical Enforcement of IP in China: Suggestions and Comments from the Quality Brands Protection Committee (QBPC)" [2011] ELECD 851; in Kariyawasam, Rohan (ed), "Chinese Intellectual Property and Technology Laws" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2011)

Book Title: Chinese Intellectual Property and Technology Laws

Editor(s): Kariyawasam, Rohan

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN (hard cover): 9781849800082

Section: Chapter 14

Section Title: Practical Enforcement of IP in China: Suggestions and Comments from the Quality Brands Protection Committee (QBPC)

Author(s): Chang, Jack

Number of pages: 44

Extract:

14. Practical enforcement of IP in
China: suggestions and comments
from the Quality Brands
Protection Committee (QBPC)
Jack Chang1

14.1. THE BACKGROUND AND HISTORY OF THE
QBPC

The open policy adopted by China and her switch from a planned
economy to a market economy system in 1978 attracted foreign investors
from all over the world to set up manufacturing operations and develop
businesses. Foreign Invested Enterprises (FIEs) soon realized that in this
new world of opportunities, they were facing unprecedented challenges
with the counterfeiting of trademarks. Some brand owners set up local
brand protection offices in the 1990s, striving for ways to tackle coun-
terfeiting problems, while many brand owners did not have the internal
resources but hoped that the Chinese government would help them resolve
the problem if they were more proactive with complaints. However, these
complaints were often made without enough supporting facts or (even
worse) led to negative press for China, where foreign brand owners had
made investments.
In early 1998, representatives from British American Tobacco, Coca-
Cola, Gillette, Johnson & Johnson, Nike, S.C. Johnson, Unilever and
Procter & Gamble started meeting on an ad hoc basis to find ways to
effectively fight the counterfeiters. The consensus was that no silver
bullets existed and that no one company could fight the battle against


1 Chairman of the Quality Brands Protection Committee and Senior IP

Counsel, GE Asia. The QBPC is a subcommittee of the China Association of
Enterprises with Foreign Investment (CAEFI), and represents the interests of
...