China has long had a reputation for being a place where it is very difficult to protect your intellectual property and businesses who are looking to trade or manufacture in China have always had to be aware of the risks that go with doing so. China has recently taken some steps to seek, to a certain degree, to change that reputation both for foreign businesses but also for disputes between Chinese companies. Disputes between Chinese companies are becoming more common and a court in Shanghai is today hearing a claim of copyright infringement between two Chinese digital companies. Tencent, a company which develops and publishes computer games, is accused by Moonton Technology of infringing its rights in a computer game called Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, one of the most popular games in South East Asia. This claim is just the latest in a line of disputes between these two companies which appear to stem from the fact that the Moonton co-founder was previously employed by Tencent and was sued by them for breaching his contract. There then followed a defamation case successfully brought by Moonton, accusing Tencent of spreading false information about the Mobile Legends game. Finally, in response to this copyright claim a subsidiary of Tencent has filed a copyright claim against Moonton alleging that elements of the Mobile Legends: Bang Bang game were copied from a game called League of Legends: Wild Rift. Intellectual property rights should be defended but they can also be used as a weapon to attack your rivals if you feel it would suit your commercial interests to do so. It appears in this matter that the copyright element is largely incidental to the desire of both parties to attack the other. It remains to be seen whether one or both of the parties subsequently regrets this. If this story has raised any questions for you please do not hesitate to contact the team at McDaniels Law on 0191 281 4000 or by email to legal@mcdanielslaw.com. in: Companies, Copyright, EU/International, Legal News, News
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