The company behind cartoon character Peppa Pig is facing increasing trademark infringement in China, although the British production company has said it is in a better position to fight those actions, largely due to the improved legal system that helps Western brands fight against intellectual property rights (IPR) infringement.

© Image | GOOGLE

Ma Xiushan, deputy secretary-general of the China Intellectual Property Society, also stressed that the legal environment in China for trademark enforcement has improved, with shorter case hearing times, making it easier for companies to combat such behavior. 

© Image | GOOGLE

How does bad faith 

application occur?

Niall Trainor, who leads the brand protection team at the Family & Brands division of Entertainment One, which owns Peppa Pig’s trademark and copyright, told that the infringement faced by Peppa Pig has worsened this year in China. 

“Before 2015, when Peppa Pig was introduced into the Chinese market, there were already some infringing trademark applications in China, but the problem has got bigger recently with the increasing popularity of Peppa Pig” in the country, he said. 

Bad faith application occurs when an applicant intentionally registers a trademark to benefit from the goodwill and reputation associated with the trademark of another owner. 

? Peppa Pig Is Banned in China!

It caused ”tens of millions of dollars” losses annually

 

In Peppa Pig’s case, some individuals and companies in China seek to profit by registering a trademark that looks very similar to the authentic Peppa Pig trademark (to confuse consumers), or by registering trademarks related to other characters in the Peppa Pig cartoons. 

Browsing the trademark information website 5a.com, we saw that some Chinese companies have applied for or are applying for the Peppa Pig trademark. Their businesses range from medical treatment to shoe and garment production.

 

Application of the trademark of Peppa Pig

One domestic company also registered the trademark of “Suzy Sheep,” a character in the Peppa Pig cartoons. 

“There are more than 100 companies in China that have applied for our trademarks, and we see new applications of this kind every month,” Trainor said. 

According to Trainor, such infringement potentially could cause ”tens of millions of dollars” losses annually for Entertainment One in the Chinese market. 

Chinese Legal Enforcement of 

Trademarks Improving

 

But Trainor stressed that as the company launched efforts to combat trademark infringement, he found that his company is in a better position to deal with such misbehavior compared with several years ago, mostly because China’s legal system has improved. 

“The legal system is slowly improving in China for Western brands. We have won some cases over brand infringement. Ten years ago, it would have been quite difficult for Western brands to sue local companies here,” he said. 

Ma said that in the future, artificial intelligence can be used to sift out bad faith applications, or a blacklist similar to that used on public transportation can be utilized to protect IPR, he told. 

? Can’t Use This Facepalm Emoji Anymore?! Why?

But he suggested that overseas companies should still register sufficient trademarks related to their brands to guard against possible infringement if they should develop their businesses in China.

To better manage and regulate expats who are working in China, the state government in 2017 launched a job applying system which requires your following personal information: 

• Education background, 

• Job experience, 

• Salary, 

• Job position, 

• Job responsibilities,

and etc.

© Image | gov.vn

 

 

To Submit the Real Self-info.

 

Your personal info. can and will be recorded in this system, all you are required to do is to submit real self-info. and related materials. If you submit the fake info. and material, you will be blacklisted. 

© Image | GOOGLE

The stricter part comes to the salary. Your submitted salary level should be the exact same as that in the labor contract you made with your employer. Then you need to work out your Individual Income Tax(IIT). (On Oct 1st, 2018, China will roll out the latest IIT rule, HACOS at then will timely update the latest IIT calculating method on official WeChat account)

? China to Launch New Anti-tax Avoidance & Strict Punishment!

? Breaking! CHINA To Cut The VAT Rates & Change Tax Standard!

How IIT Affects Your Work Permit?

 

IIT records probably affect your work permit in following aspects:

IIT Fail Your Work Permit Extension 

When you apply for work permit extension, the newly launched system will thoroughly check your last year’s salary conditions and all other personal info. 

 

Based on individual condition, the related authority may also require you to submit the IIT record report( which you can get a paper version in Tax Bureau with your passport). If you fail to submit the IIT report, the immigration department may fail your work permit extension. 

 

© Image | SZONLINE

Most provinces in China like Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Hunan require expats to submit their IIT record report in the applying process of work permit extension. If your actual salary level in IIT record report shows any unconformity with the one you submitted in the system, we strongly advise you to deal with the IIT first. 

Due to the authority needs 2-4 weeks to process your work permit extension, we thus advise you to start your extension application process 2-3 months earlier before work permit expiration. 

(The applicant of Appointment / Accreditation from International company can be exempted)

© Image | Google

 

However, IIT record report in megacities like Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen is not a must-have file in the extension applying process, only except some unusual situations. 

 

Since work permit and VISA policies in China are still in development and betterment, there is a possibility in the upcoming future that all these megacities will list IIT record report as a necessity to apply for a work permit. 

IIT Helps You In Work Permit Application

If you have a good IIT history, then the immigration department probably permits you three/five-year stay in China. For expats who have paid IIT 12,000RMB(about 1,500 US dollar) per month for over four years, then he or she has the qualification to apply for permanent residence in China. 

183-day Tax Rule

China recently has launched a 183-day tax rule which stipulates that expats who, with business VISA and other types of VISA, have personal incomes and stayed in China for more than 183 days, then they will be taxed. 

 

Official doc. from the official website

 [Screenshot via Weibo]

China Residence & IIT Income 

Source Applicability Timeline

Individual Income Tax(IIT) is usually declared to be taxed by the company accountant. If you have no IIT records or even have no qualification to use the system, please ask your accountant to finish your tax declaration or seek help from HACOS. 

A woman who threw water at her fellow train passengers has apologized after the conductor intervened in the latest row over seating to flare up on China’s railways.

© Image | SCMP

 

What’s up?

Witnesses travelling from Shanghai to Fuyang, Anhui province in northwest China on Sunday night told Beijing Youth Daily that the woman remained silent when she was asked to move by the rightful owner of her seat.

Thinking there might be a language barrier, she was asked again, in English, to leave the seat but still did not respond.

© Video | 澎湃新闻

A conductor was called and the woman told him “I don’t care”, refusing even to show her ticket when asked.

The woman became emotional when onlookers began shooting video of her with their phones and shouted at them in Chinese, “Don’t shoot. Didn’t you hear me saying not to shoot?”

© Image | 新京报

Another passenger’s voice can be heard in one video saying, “It is popular these days to occupy another’s seat, even for a foreigner.”

The woman reacted by throwing water at the man holding the camera, twice within a few seconds, just before the video clip shows a chaotic scene with wet shoes and trousers.

According to a witness on the train the woman was then taken away.

The Shanghai Railway Administration confirmed the incident on Weibo and said the woman eventually left the seat following the intervention of train conductors. She had also apologised to the passengers who had been hit by the water.

This is the latest in a series of incidents involving train passengers taking other people’s seats and refusing to move, some of which have ignited national anger.

Same Cases Happened to Chinese

 

Last Thursday in northern China an elderly man was dragged from a seat by other passengers on a train from Zhengzhou to Hebi in Henan province.

According to People’s Daily on Weibo, the man had sat in a college student’s seat and refused to move.

“Why are you sitting in somebody else’s seat?”

“Who said this is someone else’s seat!”

“You see, it is on your ticket.”

“I have a ticket! Do you mean I am without one?!”

The resulting argument lasted half of the two-hour journey until his fellow travellers could bear it no longer and intervened.

© Image | CHINADAILY

Another passenger, surnamed Zhou, refused to leave a window seat last Wednesday while travelling in southern China from Yongzhou, Hunan province to Shenzhen, Guangdong province.

Zhou was barred from taking trains for 180 days and fined 200 yuan (US$29) for “disturbing order on public transport”.

The local train bureau of Guangzhou, South China’s Guangdong province, also said on its Weibo that the rule-breaking passenger will be put on a railway blacklist for 180 days. [Screenshot via Weibo]

And a man who was put in the national spotlight last month for taking the wrong bullet train seat, was also fined 200 yuan and barred from taking trains for an unspecified time.