Intellectual Property

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By Ding Xianjie Yang Hua   King & Wood Mallesons’ Trademark Group

According to Chinese Trademark Law, the party concerned in cases involving granting or determination of trademark rights against the decisions of the Trademark Review and Adjudication Board (TRAB) under the State Administration for Industry and Commerce (SAIC) must bring an administrative proceeding to the First Intermediate People’s Court of Beijing Municipality. The second instance made by the Higher People’s Court of Beijing ( “Beijing Higher Court“) is a final judgment.

Recently, Beijing Higher Court publishes the Guidelines of Trial of Administrative Cases Involving Granting and Determination of Trademark Rights (the “Guidelines“）, which includes 30 Articles concerning the issues on recognition and protection of well-known trademarks, recognition and protection of geographical indications, determination of confusion and misidentification, protection of prior rights of copyright and rights to names, as well as the relevant court trial procedures under circumstances that the business license of a party has been revoked but the party has not gone through the termination formalities of its company. The main points are as below.
Continue Reading Notice of the Higher People’s Court of Beijing on Guidelines for Trial of Administrative Cases Involving Granting and Determination of Trademark Rights

作者：丁宪杰 杨华  金杜律师事务所商标部

中国商标法规定，商标授权确权案件中，当事人对国家工商行政管理总局商标评审委员会的裁定和决定不服的，须向北京市第一中级人民法院提起行政诉讼，对一审判决不服的，须向北京市高级人民法院提起上诉。北京市高级人民法院的二审判决为终审判决。

北京市高级人民法院（以下称“北京高院“）近日公布了关于商标授权确权行政案件的审理指南，指南共三十条，涉及驰名商标的认定与保护问题、地理标志的认定与保护问题、混淆误认的判断问题、涉及姓名权和著作权的在先权利的保护问题、以及诸如当事人被吊销营业执照但未注销等情况的审理程序问题。其中有以下要点值得关注：
Continue Reading 北京市高级人民法院公布《关于商标授权确权行政案件的审理指南》

作者：郝元 彭荷月 金杜律师事务所知识产权诉讼部

所谓证券交易信息，通常指有价证券在证券交易市场集中交易产生的、经过证券交易所整理、编排的市场交易数据、行情及因其产生的其他相关信息，包括证券价格、股价指数及行情信息等。以信息是否公开为标准，证券交易信息可分为公开信息及非公开信息，其中公开信息包括即时行情、每日涨跌幅比例超过7%的前5只证券成交情况等信息，而非公开信息主要是交易记录信息，包括营业部实时成交回报、营业部清算数据、投资者交易数据等[1]。随着中国证券市场的快速发展，以及近年来信息网络技术的高度发达，通过技术手段控制上述交易信息的传播变得十分困难，因此加强对于交易信息的法律保护越来越必要。而作为证券交易信息的编纂者，证券交易所能否从知识产权的角度禁止或限制他人对其已经公开发布的交易信息进行自由使用？基于这一问题，笔者在本文中主要围绕上述公开信息的知识产权属性进行讨论，简要分析了国内此类信息知识产权保护的现状和存在的问题，并对美国法体系下证券交易公开信息的知识产权保护进行了相应考察与总结，最后在此基础上对于国内证券交易所在实践中应如何有效加强对于此类信息的保护提出了建议以作参考。
Continue Reading 有关证券交易信息知识产权保护可能性的一些探讨

By Xu Jing and Zhang Hairuo   King & Wood Mallesons’ IP Litigation Group

On April 22, 2013, the Supreme People’s Court of the People’s Republic of China (the “SPC”) released its Annual Press Release regarding Judicial Protection of Intellectual Property and Model Cases of 2012. The SPC therein unveiled the “Top Ten Innovative Intellectual Property Cases in China (2012)”, which included the “Leroy-Somer” trademark and company name infringement case (Case Number: [2012] Min Min Zhong Zi No. 819). As lawyers from King & Wood Mallesons’ IP Litigation Group, we represented the Plaintiffs, Leroy-Somer Societe Anonyme ( “LS”) and Leroy-Somer Electro-Technique (Fuzhou) Co., Ltd. (the “LSFZ”), against Lilaisenma Fujian Electrical Machinery Co., Ltd. (the “LLSM”) in this matter.
Continue Reading “Leroy-Somer” Trademark Infringement and Unfair Competition Case Named One of China’s Top 10 Innovative IP Cases of 2012

By Ding Xianjie  King & Wood Mallesons’ IP Legal Group

I. Generic Top-Level Domain and the New Gtld

gTLD (generic Top-Level Domain, “gTLD”) is one of the top-level domains (TLD) managed by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN). Under the current gTLD system, there are only 22 gTLDs available (not including the TLDs representing 200+ countries and territories, such as the .cn). These TLDs are generic terms representing the nature of the industry, such as, .com means commercial organizations (but unrestricted), .edu refers to educational establishments, .gov refers to U.S. government entities, .net originally refers to network infrastructures (now unrestricted). The frequently used ones are .com, .edu, .net, .org, .info, .biz, but the most commonly used and the most popular one is undoubtedly .com.
Continue Reading The Use of Trademark Protection Mechanisms under New gTLD System

作者：丁宪杰  金杜律师事务所知识产权法律事务部

一、 什么是通用顶级域和新通用顶级域

通用顶级域（generic Top-Level Domain，简称gTLD）是互联网名称与数字地址分配机构（ICANN）管理的顶级域（TLD）之一，在目前的通用顶级域体系下，可用的通用顶级域只有22个（另有200多个国家及地区代码顶级域不在本文讨论之列，如.cn），均为行业性质的通用词，比如：com指商业、edu指教育、gov指政府、net指网络服务商等。目前经常被使用的有.com、.edu、.net、.org、.info、.biz等，而最常用和最受欢迎的无疑是.com。
Continue Reading 新通用顶级域体系下商标保护机制的使用

By Li Zhongsheng  Song Xinyue King & Wood Mallesons’ IP Litigation Group

In April 2013, the Supreme People’s Court of the People’s Republic of China (the “Supreme People’s Court”) released the 2012 Top 50 Typical Cases of Intellectual Property Protection in Chinese Courts (Fa Ban [2013] No. 44) as a referential document for fair and efficient adjudications for the People’s Courts. The document included an appeal case regarding a patent for invention infringement dispute (Case Number: [2012] Su Zhi Min Zhong Zi No. 0021), which was represented by the IP Litigation Group of King & Wood Mallesons.
Continue Reading Appeal of Infringement Dispute of Patent for Invention on One of the 2012 Top 50 Typical Cases of Intellectual Property Protection in Chinese Courts — Harbin Industrial University Xinghe Industrial Co., Ltd v. Jiang Su Runde Pipe Industry Co., Ltd

作者：韦理查（Richard W. Wigley) 金杜律师事务所IP诉讼部

中国因其拥有最庞大的零售交易[1]数量，已被认为是世界最大的网上交易市场[2]，正在赶超美国。这种不断增长的零售市场，无论是对传统的实体零售商还是网络零售商，都带来了巨大的机遇和挑战。中国的消费者正越来越追求产品的质量，同时，越来越多的传统实体零售消费者正转变为网上购物者。这些消费者往往要求其网购行为获得保护并且他们通常会向行政机关或司法机关寻求权利救济并获得相应赔偿。

为应对零售市场消费者的这种转变，全国人民代表大会常务委员会近期公布了《关于修改<中华人民共和国消费者权益保护法>的决定[3]》。新修订的《消费者权益保护法》（以下称“《修订》”）将于2014年3月15日开始正式实施。《修订》为中国的消费者提供了更多的保护，而同时，《修订》里对于零售商们新增或修订的法定义务也为中国的零售商带来了更多的障碍和限制，以及他们提供次质的商品和服务可能承担的责任。本文旨在基于以下具体条款分析《修订》怎样为零售商们带来新的困境。
Continue Reading 中国新修订的《消费者权益保护法》为实体零售店和网络零售店设定更高标准

By Manuela Finger 

Introduction

Germany is traditionally one of the most important markets for Chinese companies when it comes to IP. The number of Chinese companies targeting Germany to procure technology or to undertake M&A transactions is constantly increasing.

At the same time, the German IP enforcement system is having a considerable impact on doing business in Germany. On the one hand, it provides an efficient tool for rights owners while, on the other, the expeditious German enforcement system can have a severe commercial impact on newcomers to the market who may suffer in exhibitions in Germany from actions of rights owners. There are even court cases between Chinese companies and between other multinational companies that take place in Germany, possibly due to Germany’s IP enforcement system being recognised as effective and efficient. This brings both advantages and risks.

This article explains the German IP enforcement system and the most important aspects that both rights owners and potential defendants in IP disputes should consider when conducting IP-related business in Germany.
Continue Reading Doing IP in Germany – Advantages and Risks of the German IP Enforcement System