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In China, geographic indications are primarily protected under the Trademark Law, the Provisions on the Protection of Geographical Indication Products and the Measures for Administration of Geographical Indications of Agricultural Products. The administrative authorities over geographic indications under these laws and regulations are the Trademark Office (TMO), the State Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ) and the Ministry of Agriculture of China (MOA), respectively.  Under the Trademark Law, geographic indications can be protected as collective marks or certification marks.  Applicant nationalities are not prerequisites to protection of geographic indications under the Trademark Law. However, the other two regulations are only applicable to domestic applicants in most cases.  The specific regulations do not address the protection of foreign geographical indications.  Currently, the MOA has yet to receive any application for foreign geographical indications and they would need to arrange a meeting if such an application is submitted.  The AQSIQ may grant protection for a foreign geographic indication if the country of origin provides similar protection as the AQSIQ does or the country of origin and the Chinese government have reached a consensus by signing a treaty regarding such an issue.  If the geographic indication can be protected as a trademark only in the country of origin, such request to the AQSIQ may not be accepted.  It appears that up to the end of 2010, only "Scotch whisky" and "French cognac" were granted protection as geographic indications by the AQSIQ.  Therefore, there is some difficulty in obtaining protection of foreign geographic indications in accordance with the above-mentioned two regulations in China.  However, we anticipate that this may change in the future since the three administrative authorities are seeking uniform administration over the protection of geographical indications.   （Contributed by Jiang Ying ）

For more information about the above issue, please refer to:

http://www.law-lib.com/lw/lw_view.asp?no=10921

在中国，地理标志的保护主要是通过《商标法》、《地理标志产品保护规定》和《农产品地理标志管理办法》，主管机关分别是商标局、国家质量监督检验检疫总局（国家质检总局）和农业部。从《商标法》的保护层面来看，地理标志获得保护可以通过申请为集体商标或证明商标的方式，《商标法》中对于申请人的国籍并无特殊要求，而其他二个规定则在大多数情况下仅适用于国内地理标志的保护，而对于外国地理标志保护的具体规定目前仍未制定。根据最近与国家质检总局和农业部官员的咨询，农业部目前为止并未受理过任何外国地理标志的申请，如果外国申请人有类似的申请要求，农业部需要开会进行讨论。而国家质检总局在外国申请人所在国与中国有国际条约以及外国地理标志在本国以同样的途径获得保护的情况下，会给予地理标志保护，但如果该国外地理标志在其本国仅作为商标给予保护，则国家质检总局也不会接受类似地理标志保护请求。据我们所知，截至2010年底，仅“苏格拉威士忌”和“法国干邑”是经国家质检总局在中国获得保护的外国地理标志。我们期待这样的情形在未来会有所改变，因为目前三个主管机关正在寻求对地理标志保护的统一管理。（作者：蒋颖）

更多有关信息，请参考：

http://www.law-lib.com/lw/lw_view.asp?no=10921

I. “ Famous” Trademarks Recognized in Three Types of Civil Disputes:
A. Unauthorized use of a mark that is the same as or similar to a non-registered mark in China on same or similar goods/services;

B. Unauthorized use of a mark that is same as or similar to a registered mark in China on dissimilar goods/services; and

C. Unauthorized use of mark that is the same as or similar to a registered mark in China as a trade name on dissimilar goods/services.

The Supreme People's Court noted that it was not necessary to recognize the “famous” status of the trademark in a dispute concerning the registration and/or use of domain names which are the same as or similar to the registered trademark at issue.

II. The Interpretation further clarifies that the continued use of a mark before its registration in China can be considered when the courts evaluate how famous a mark is. The elements for evaluation of the level of fame of a mark, as stipulated in Article 14 of the Trademark Law, will be examined by the court under the totality of the circumstances and not all elements are required to be present for the mark to be deemed “famous". For a mark which enjoys a high degree of recognition nationwide, the burden of proof regarding the level of fame of the mark is further decreased and the Court is allowed to use its discretion when making its ruling based upon evidence offered by the Plaintiff.

III. The concept of “anti-dilution” was also introduced in the Interpretation. It is noted that the damage to the good will associated with a famous trademark should be recognized as a form of harm to the legitimate interests of the famous trademark owner.

IV. This new Interpretation will take effect on May 1st, 2009 and will be applicable to all cases pending Judgment. It is worth noting that just prior to the issuance of the Interpretation, the Supreme People's Court limited the courts which have authority to recognize a trademark as “famous” to the Intermediate People's Courts in the capital cities of the Provinces, in municipalities listed in the state organizational plan, in municipalities directly under the central government and also Intermediate People's Courts approved by the Supreme People's Court.

With now two consecutive opinions rendered by the Supreme People's Court on the recognition of “famous” trademarks, a clear signal is being sent to the public that the Supreme People's Court understands the importance of the establishment of a uniform standard for judicial recognition of “famous” trademarks in China.

最高人民法院明确了驰名商标司法认定的标准

最高人民法院于2009年4月23日发布了《关于审理涉及驰名商标保护的民事纠纷案件应用法律若干问题的解释》，明确了在中国通过司法途径认定驰名商标的标准。

1． 法院在三类案件中可以认定驰名商标，即：

1.1 未经许可在相同或者类似商品上使用与他人未注册的驰名商标相同或者近似商标的；
1.2 未经许可在非类似商品上使用与他人注册商标相同或者相近似的商标的；以及
1.3 未经许可在非类似商品上使用与他人注册商标相同或者相近似的企业名称的。

最高人民法院指出，将他人注册商标相同或者相近似的标识注册为域名并使用的行为，在认定侵权时，无需认定该商标驰名。

2． 该解释明确，在认定驰名时，该商标核准注册之前持续使用的情形也应考虑在内。《商标法》第14条所规定的认定驰名的各项因素，应综合考虑，无须考虑该条规定的全部情形。对于在中国境内广为知晓的商标，认定驰名时原告的举证责任可以进一步减轻，法院可以根据原告提交的基本证据运用自由裁量权对于涉案商标的驰名地位予以确认。

3． 该解释还引入了反淡化的观念，减弱、贬损驰名商标的市场声誉的，也属于对驰名商标合法权益的一种侵害形式。

该解释于2009年5月1日正式施行，并适用于该日期后的所有未决案件。值得注意的是，在该解释出台之前，最高人民法院发布通知，将有权审理涉及驰名商标认定案件的法院限制为：省级政府所在地中级人民法院，计划单列市中级人民法院，直辖市中级人民法院以及经最高人民法院批准的中级人民法院。

最高人民法院借助这两个司法解释，向公众表明了最高人民法院意图使驰名商标的司法认定标准规范化和统一化。