IPR protection & Mapping Brand Infringement for an Environmental Technology Company in China
A Swedish manufacturer of environmental technology products had become aware of intellectual property right infringements occurring on the aftersales market for its products in China.
ARC Consulting was contacted by the client to support in identifying infringing actors in order to protect the interests of the company. 92 suppliers in 8 provinces producing similar products as the client were contacted and investigated by ARC Consulting.
As a result of the research, eight suppliers were identified as suspected suppliers based on received quotations and details of their products. ARC Consulting provided the name and details of the suspected suppliers along with recommended actions for the protection of the clients’ intellectual property rights.
A Swedish manufacturer of products in the environmental technology sector, with established sales channels in over 50 countries, had become aware of Intellectual property (IP) infringements occurring on the aftersales market in China.
The client had identified products and spare parts that were being copied and sold at a lower price by third parties without authorization. The client was concerned about the negative impacts on the company’s business from both a financial and a quality-reputation viewpoint.
As a result, ARC Consulting was contacted by the client to assist in identifying infringing actors in China.
ARC Consulting started the project by establishing the overall methodology. 92 suppliers were identified that fulfilled the master list criteria:
- Being a manufacturer or trading company in the client´s product segment
- Using the clients English or Chinese name on the website
- Providing products with similar specification.
After two steps of reviewing and analyzing the identified suppliers and their products, RFQ:s were sent to 25 suppliers, that were also subject to closer inspection. Finally, it could be confirmed that 8 suppliers were in fact clearly infringing on the clients IP-rights.
In total, the project covered a detailed screening of 92 suppliers producing similar products as the client across various locations in China. Based on the information collected from the in-depth screening, ARC Consulting identified eight suspected suppliers that were offering products with clearly infringing design and branding.
All the supplier information including legal company name and location, as well as quotations and photos of infringing products were submitted to the client.
ARC Consulting’s report also outlined recommended further actions that were needed in order to increase the protection of the client’s IP-Rights on the Chinese market.
The report and recommendations provided by ARC Consulting enabled the client to implement the necessary protective actions on the Chinese market, as well as to outline a strategy for increased IP-rights protection in China.
Following the project, the client was able to directly contact the marketplaces on which the infringing products were marketed, and request that they delete all infringing material. Based on the collected information and evidence in the report, the client also had sufficient material about the infringing companies in order to bring the case to an intellectual property rights lawyer in China.
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