Zhang Yang

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THE Shenzhen Industrial Design Profession Association officially launched its intellectual property right (IPR) protection work station at Sino-Finnish Design Park in Futian District yesterday, a day before World Intellectual Property Day.

The work station is aimed at providing consulting services and legal support for industrial designers to solve IPR-related disputes.

The work station consists of two online service platforms — an industrial design work library and an online Q&A platform — as well as two offline centers, including an IPR consultation center and an IPR-related dispute mediation center. It will also host a training camp focused on IPR knowledge for designers and design companies.

Zhang Jianhui, general manager of LKK Design in Shenzhen, said that he had witnessed the development of the industrial design industry in China, because seven years ago, when LKK Design moved from Beijing to Shenzhen, he had to spend nearly an hour explaining what industrial design was to clients, but now his clients can tell him their needs without him having to explain anymore.

Zhang’s company is well-known for its 55-degree Cup, which allows users to cool down hot drinks to 55 degrees Celsius within a few seconds by shaking the cup. The cup’s designer, Jia Wei, who is also a founder of LKK Design, came up with the idea of creating a cooling-down cup after his 2-year-old daughter was accidentally scalded by boiling water at home three years ago.

According to Zhang, the magical cup made its name after the company showcased it during a gift fair in 2014, but it also drew attention from the copycats. “We lost six cups that were exhibited at the fair,” Zhang said, adding that thereafter a number of counterfeited 55-degree Cups had entered the market.

Zhang said that the company’s employees formed three anti-counterfeit teams to denounce sellers and producers of the counterfeited cups, but they still failed to stop the copycats.

“Then we realized that instead of confronting the copycats, we should put more time and effort into developing new products. It doesn’t mean we surrender to them. On the contrary, it’s our own way of fighting against the knockoffs — a more confident way, because real innovators are not afraid of counterfeits,” he said.

Zhang said that he was glad that the work station was officially inaugurated as it meant a lot to local designers. “I really hope that the IPR protection system in Shenzhen will be further optimized in the future, which will require the participation of everyone in the design industry,” he said.