Design Protection In China

[Troytempest]

Hello,
To any members of this forum who has designed a product to manufacture in china I would like your advice please.
I have designed a product idea and have contacted companies in china who have all requested my CAD drawings and specifications.
However, before I do this, I would like your advice please on how I can go about protecting my concept from being reproduced "copied".
I don't know if I can get a patent for what I have designed I doubt it, not sure a UK patent would cover china anyway.
Intellectual rights for my drawings?, again I am not sure if this would be enough. Surely there is something I can do for peace of mind.
If there a way or method that you can recommend please??:|
Thanks

 

[Chap123]

Hello,

I have dealt with China manufacturers in the past (with compatible inkjet cartridges) and they are a notoriously tricky bunch.

You are quite right regarding patents, even if you do get one, that doesn't necessarily protect you. Although you could probably stop any product infringing on your patent being sold, it would take time and the likelihood is that the market would long be saturated before you managed to get them off the market.

The best piece of advice I can give you (from my experience) is to find a reputable manufacturer in China and go and visit them before giving them the details of your design and commissioning a product run.

There are companies out there who will happily source manufacturers out there and arrange meetings with them.

The best way to avoid any infringement problems is to know who you are working with!

Hope this helps

 

[fountain]

Hello,

There are companies out there who will happily source manufacturers out there and arrange meetings with them.

Sorry - thread hijack! Any recommendations? I'm in a similar boat!

 

[Troytempest]

Thanks for your comments chap123. Yes what you said seems logical enough, finding a "reputable" manufacturer is very important however, how you go about finding one without any prior business association or recommendation seems to me a difficult task.
These companies you mentioned who source and arrange contact with factories and suppliers, how independant are they and where can you find them?
Finally, if anyone has been through this process, what advice can you give.
Do you recommend setting up meetings and a trip there? is this how its done?
Thanks

 

[Chap123]

Glad to be of assistance.

As much as it pains me to say it, your best bet may be to look at Alibaba.com and see if you can find an intermediary through there.

That is where mine came from when I was sourcing a manufacturer and it worked for me. You just have to be very careful and ask for references.

I wish you the best of luck and hope someone with some more appropriate information can help you further.

 

[shandp]

If your product is a novel technological innovation then a UK patent application could be filed. This has to be done before the invention is disclosed to others. Although a UK patent application would not itself result in patent protection in China, it could serve as a ‘priority’ application giving a 12 month window for filing a corresponding patent application covering China. We are experienced in filing patent applications all around the world.

Similarly, if your product has a new external appearance but is not technologically innovative then a UK or European Community registered design application could be filed. Again, this would not result in design protection in China but could serve as ‘priority’ application giving you a 6 month window for filing a corresponding design application in China.

Patents and registered designs generally offer better prosecution than unregistered design rights or copyright, or trying to rely on Confidentiality Agreements.

Please give us a call if you need anything further – we do not charge for a brief initial consultation.

Dave Marles
[email protected]

 

[wujuan198710]

Thanks for your comments chap123. Yes what you said seems logical enough, finding a "reputable" manufacturer is very important however, how you go about finding one without any prior business association or recommendation seems to me a difficult task.
These companies you mentioned who source and arrange contact with factories and suppliers, how independant are they and where can you find them?
Finally, if anyone has been through this process, what advice can you give.
Do you recommend setting up meetings and a trip there? is this how its done?
Thanks

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[Lars Kristensen]

There isn't much to do about the problem that if a manufacturer sees an interesting product, he will try to find more sales channels for it.
Sometimes the best you can do is not even ask them to sign an NDA, as they will know then that this product is new and interesting.
If the product is made from different parts, then get the parts produced separate and have a smaller shop assemble the parts and make sure dont know what they have in their hands.
We sometimes use this model, and have the parts sent to our own production facillity for assembling and packing before shipment.

Kind regards

Lars Kristensen

 

[KimLogan]

I have this story from my colleague from Australia. He invented one very smart mechanism and applied for a patent protection. Before he was granted one (in 7 or 8 major patent regulators) he found his tool for sale in one shop in Shenzhen. That's all I have to say

 

[mdeal]

I'm a Chinese girl, and do apparel export, I get the drawings and specifications from your people, I think the most important thing to protect yourself is to find a reliable person to in charge of this. In my view, we protect our clients' right is a way to protect ourselves for our oversea market. You should try to find such a person and such a company. You should ask them questions. Just try for some times , you can get. If YOU go to Alibaba you can add me by cn220184185as a friend.

Hello,
To any members of this forum who has designed a product to manufacture in china I would like your advice please.
I have designed a product idea and have contacted companies in china who have all requested my CAD drawings and specifications.
However, before I do this, I would like your advice please on how I can go about protecting my concept from being reproduced "copied".
I don't know if I can get a patent for what I have designed I doubt it, not sure a UK patent would cover china anyway.
Intellectual rights for my drawings?, again I am not sure if this would be enough. Surely there is something I can do for peace of mind.
If there a way or method that you can recommend please??:|
Thanks

 

[IP Consultant]

Hi

I´m a European Patent Attorney and European Design Attorney. I can assist you in relation to IP rights in the UK and Europe but more importantly I work with a Chinese Patent Attorney who I highly recommend.

Please do not hesitate to contact me if you would like further information and a quote.

Best wishes

Matthew Allen
Allen IP Limited