On December 15-16, World Trademark Review (WTR) held the Brand Strategy China 2022 online. With insights from both domestic and international brand owners, and the representatives of key government agencies, the forum drilled down into best practice and drew on the unique visionaries at the forefront of the industry. Quality Brands Protection Committee of China Association of Enterprises with Foreign Investment (QBPC) supported the event, and a few QBPC member representatives attended the forum.
QBPC Chair Michael Ding presided over the Panel Discussion of “Litigating against the squatters: tips for success” on the first day of the forum. He first thanked WTR for its long-standing close cooperation with QBPC and briefly introduced QBPC and its priorities. Through the panel, he hoped to exchange the latest industry trends and experience with the speakers and seek a more efficient solution to unfair competition acts, such as trademark squatting, trademark infringement and free ride on well-known brands.
Michael said that the squatters usually got involved in the whole process of malicious trademark squatting, trademark infringement, free ride on well-known brands and even malicious litigation. In addition, brand protection required both communication and cooperation with relevant law enforcement and judicial departments as well as close internal cooperation with relevant departments within the business. After that, the speakers discussed three topics, including the experience and observation on squatted trademark objection, invalidity and subsequent administrative procedures, the latest experience and insights on brand freeriding including products, services or decorations, and the experience of internal cooperation with corporate headquarters and business departments in the process of right protection.
Finally, Michael expressed his gratitude to the speakers for their wonderful presentation and the participants for their active participation while looking forward to maintaining communication and exchange with them in order to tackle relevant problems more efficiently at a lower cost.
Across two half days, the forum comprised six sessions including “Litigating against the squatters: tips for success”, “Nipping IP risk in the bud”, “Ringfencing your rights to bolster protection”, “Get ready for next-gen tech, NFTs and the metaverse”, “Strengthening your brand for the online battlefield” and “Tackling counterfeiters within China’s border”. It aimed at providing feasible solutions for IP professionals and helping them safeguard brand integrity and maximize the brand value.