Over the years, Rouse International Guangzhou Office has worked with its strategic partner, Lu Sheng Law Firm, to fight against infringements for clients at the Canton Fair. In recent years, both law enforcement agencies and organizers have significantly improved their protection of intellectual property rights.
What do intellectual property owners think about protecting their intellectual property rights at the Canton Fair? Recently, Heng Hou, Director of Guangzhou Branch of Luxon, a strategic partner of Rouse, and Head of Intellectual Property Protection Business in China , conducted an in-depth interview with Drew Lamb, Vice President of Intellectual Property of Samsonite . Drew Lamb believes that it is crucial to maintain close cooperation with on-site law enforcement departments and organizers and to continue to carry out flexible and varied rights protection actions to protect intellectual property rights.
This article will sort out the highlights of this interview, hoping to encourage more intellectual property owners to take more proactive measures at the Canton Fair to prevent infringements.
1. Why is it so important to continue to defend your rights at the Canton Fair?
Since 2012, Samsonite has been actively defending its rights at the Canton Fair during every luggage exhibition. We have noticed that there are always people trying to copy our products and designs, so we must take measures to stop these infringements before they spread to the global market. We firmly believe that it is important to inform them through constant verbal warnings not to copy our designs and products, to clearly tell them which features cannot be copied, and to encourage them to create and produce unique designs and products. With so many exporters participating in the Canton Fair, it is very worthwhile and efficient to be able to complete this work in one go.
2. After years of continuous rights protection at the Canton Fair, what effect do you think it has achieved?
We have found that the copying of our intellectual property has decreased over time. In the early years, we often encountered counterfeit products of our brand, such as luggage and backpacks under the Samsonite banner, and copies of our classic Cosmolite luggage designs. These were clear infringements of our trademarks and design patents, and we filed complaints with the field complaint center to request the removal of these infringing products.
In recent years, we have noticed a decrease in direct knockoffs and imitations of our old designs. Instead, we have seen more products on display from suppliers that have become improved versions of our original products. We consider this to be a positive outcome of our continued efforts and we firmly believe that they can be inspired by our designs but should not get too close to them to create their own new designs that do not infringe our rights. Verbal warnings have helped educate them to avoid direct copying.
I also often join the rights protection team of Rouse and its strategic partners, personally visit the luggage exhibition area, understand the similarity and scale of other products with our products, and personally communicate with exhibitors to guide them to operate with integrity and avoid plagiarism. Some exhibitors recognized me and took the initiative to show me their booths to show that they had removed the infringing copies that were pointed out in previous exhibitions. Some even expressed their willingness to cooperate with Samsonite. I am very pleased that exhibitors have significantly improved their understanding of the importance of eliminating Samsonite plagiarism.
We also found that the attitude and assistance of the exhibition organizers and the Intellectual Property Rights Protection Center have greatly improved since our initial contact, and the efficiency of complaint handling has been improved with the help of the online system. We also welcome the exhibition organizers to adopt a variety of effective ways to deal with the imitation of our products, in order to centrally and efficiently resolve multiple complaints during the exhibition and reduce pressure.
3. What do you think of the improvements made by the rights protection department and organizers of the Canton Fair over the years of development?
In general, we have noticed that the rights protection personnel and organizers of the complaint center have become more active and open to handling intellectual property complaints. Looking back at the initial period of Samsonite’s intellectual property protection work, due to the exhibition cycle of only five days and the slow complaint handling process, it was difficult for the rights protection personnel to effectively handle many complaints in a short period of time. When the five-day exhibition was coming to an end, it was not meaningful to take action against infringing exhibitors on the fourth day.
However, over time, we have seen more rapid and efficient protection actions at the fair. Take our patented B-lite handle design as an example. Although counterfeits appear at every fair, we always submit a takedown request to the complaint center. Now, the organizers are very familiar with this design and can make a quick judgment. In order to ease the pressure on the protection staff to handle a large number of intellectual property complaints during the limited exhibition period, the Canton Fair organizers also specially dispatched experts to assist in handling some complaints.
At the Canton Fair in May this year, we had a productive meeting with a representative of the organizer’s staff responsible for IP infringement complaints. He revealed to us that for the organizer, IP protection is becoming increasingly important both during and outside the fair. As the Canton Fair approaches, the organizer sends a warning to all prospective exhibitors, reminding them to respect the IP rights of others and providing a list of IP rights that frequently appear at previous fairs. I am glad that Samsonite is included in this list.
After each Canton Fair, we welcome and support the Guangdong Provincial Intellectual Property Office to refer all submitted complaints to local rights protection agencies with jurisdiction over the relevant exhibitors for further investigation. I appreciate the follow-up actions of the local market supervision bureaus and shared with the organizers’ staff two cases of infringement of Samsonite’s design patents that were referred to the Tianjin and Hangzhou market supervision bureaus for handling. Both cases were successfully resolved: one case was punished by the market supervision bureau, and the other was mediated and compensated. We appreciate such coordinated actions and follow-up.
4. What new infringement trends have you observed at recent exhibitions?
As mentioned earlier, exhibitors are increasingly looking to Samsonite for “inspiration”, and Samsonite continues to introduce innovative designs. At present, although direct imitation still exists, we are more likely to find some derivative variations based on our products. Sometimes, they will imitate our most recognizable designs to attract potential customers, trying to present their products as similar to us, Samsonite, the global leader in the luggage market. However, because they are aware of the possibility of infringing our rights, they often create some variations to avoid directly copying our original designs. These derivative designs may still constitute an infringement of our rights. At the same time, they bring greater challenges for the staff of the Rights Protection Center to evaluate within the limited exhibition time.
We also observe that the public is becoming more aware of intellectual property rights (including patents, designs and trademarks) and is realizing that these rights should be respected and protected and should not be infringed.
5. What advice do you have for other IP rights holders participating in the Canton Fair?
Adequate preparation and active participation are essential. The first step is to gather intelligence, including investigations of relevant product categories at the Canton Fair to determine which designs and products have been copied. Results from previous fairs and conditions in the market can help identify which designs have been copied. Before taking action at the Canton Fair, ensure that all necessary documents, such as Power of Attorney (POA), Trademark Registration Certificate, and Patent Certificate, are prepared in advance. If infringement of certain design patents is found during the initial investigation, this can be recorded and a verbal warning given. If the same situation occurs again, formal protection actions can be taken at the next fair after obtaining the Patent Certificate and Evaluation Report.
Due to the limited exhibition time, close cooperation between IP owners and IP defenders is particularly important. IP defenders need to quickly understand the patent situation in order to evaluate infringement and make decisions. In addition, it is equally important to educate exhibitors to avoid copying our designs and encourage buyers to be vigilant and avoid purchasing infringing products.
In summary, it is an opportunistic strategy for exhibitors to attend the Canton Fair and display infringing copycat designs. We will continue to attend the Canton Fair and ensure that these infringing products are removed from the booths, clearly communicate our position that we will not tolerate such copycats, and dissuade anyone from copying our products and designs. We appreciate the intellectual property protection system provided by the Canton Fair, and will continue to take action at the fair to convey to exhibitors the importance of respecting intellectual property rights.
For further information, please contact:
Sophia Hou, Partner, Rouse
shou@lushenglawyers.com
