On November 25, 2015 the IP Lectures for Chinese Employees of Japanese Enterprises jointly hosted by Watson & Band (“W&B”) and the Japan External Trade Organization (“JETRO”) came to a close with the last lecture, entitled Identification of Trademark Infringement, Internet Counterfeits and Parallel Imports. The lecture was held in the conference room on the third floor of the International Trade Center. As the last lecture in the series this year, it was delivered by attorney Yizhou Liu of W&B’s Copyright and Trademark Litigation Department.

Mr. Liu divided the lecture into three sessions and elaborated on each of them --  identification criteria for trademark infringement, countermeasures to Internet counterfeits, and countermeasures against parallel imports. In the first session, he cited relevant provisions of the TRIPs to reveal the nature of a trademark, and he pointed out that the core information carried by a trademark is the enterprise’s business reputation. The nature of trademark infringement is undoubtedly an unjustified act of confusing the public concerning the reputation carried on the specific mark and the actual source of the trademarked goods. He then cited a series of cases to show that actual use is the lifeblood of a trademark, that preventing confusion is the fundamental function of a trademark, and that market participants need to avoid confusion. These principles can help trademark rights owners avoid the infringement of their rights.

In the second and third sessions, Mr. Liu advised Japanese enterprises on how to combat counterfeits by analyzing the current status and background of counterfeits on the Internet, defining the scope of counterfeits and their specific forms, providing examples of countermeasures to the sale of counterfeits on the Internet, and offering some illustrations.

The attendees found this lecture highly relevant to the enterprise use and protection of trademarks, and expressed the view that it would be greatly helpful to their routine work. After the lecture, a number of attendees exchanged business cards with Mr. Liu, and expressed their hope for potential opportunities to cooperate in copyright and trademark related litigation matters.

The IP Lectures for Chinese Employees of Japanese Enterprises came to a perfect end, completing a series of four lectures presented to over 120 mid-level employees from Japanese enterprises. The lectures provided a broad platform for popularizing IP-related knowledge that is needed in the routine work of these Chinese employees.