Avoiding third-party copyright infringement in marketing campaigns

A Belgian SME producing chocolate decided to increase investments in China to improve sales. The company had already been present in the China market for almost a decade, with rather satisfactory sales numbers and a well-prepared IP protection strategy. The company had registered their trade mark when they entered China market and had also obtained a few design patents covering some of the more peculiar shapes of their most distinguished products. A year ago, the company opened their very first local business office in Shanghai and hired some local employees to boost their presence in the China market. The SME had just launched a brand new product and with the advice of the local team started a marketing campaign focusing heavily on advertising on social media platforms such as WeChat and Douyin (Tik Tok). The marketing campaign was tailor-made for the China market, featuring videos about how chocolate is made in Belgium, but using bits of one of the latest Chinese pop-songs.