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By King & Wood’s Intellectual Property Group

Pursuant to the judicial interpretations enacted by the Supreme People’s Court of China in February 2008, if a prior registered trademark owner files an infringement lawsuit against the use of a latter registered trademark, courts will refuse to accept the case. The prior trademark registrant must first initiate a trademark dispute action with the China Trademark Review and Adjudication Board (TRAB) to invalidate the latter registered trademark. The are various reasons that may prevent the latter registered trademark from being invalidated within a short period of time, making it difficult for the prior registrant to prevent continued infringement by the latter mark in a timely manner.Continue Reading Copyright, a Drawn Sword towards Bad Faith Trademark Registration

金杜律师事务所知识产权组

根据中国大陆最高人民法院于2008年2月作出的生效司法解释，依据在先注册商标对在后注册商标的使用提起商标侵权诉讼的，法院不予受理，在先权利人应首先向商标评审委员会请求撤销在后申请的注册商标。这种情况导致权利人在基于各种原因无法及时撤销在后注册的侵权商标的情况下，很难制止其使用。

但是，如果在侵权注册商标的申请日之前，权利人对相同、近似商标享有其他种类的在先民事权利，比如，著作权、企业字号权、肖像权、姓名权、外观设计专利权等，权利人可依据该在先权利对侵权注册商标的使用直接提出侵权之诉，同样可达到制止后者使用的目的。Continue Reading 著作权，对抗恶意注册商标的一把利剑

By Xu Ping  King & Wood’s Foreign Direct Investment Group

The variable interest entity ("VIE") has long been a popular structure for foreign parties to invest in sectors which are restricted by China’s industrial policy to foreign investment. In addition the VIE structure has also been used as a means by which Chinese domestic entities could list offshore on international capital markets.

The first well known VIE structure was that of Sina.com in its 2000 listing on NASDAQ. Indeed the VIE structure is also commonly known as a "Sina Structure". Sina used the VIE as a workaround structure to avoid restrictions on foreign direct investment (FDI) in the value-added telecom services sector. Since then, both foreign and Chinese investors alike have replicated the VIE structure in many other sectors of China’s economy where FDI is either restricted or prohibited to foreign investors.Continue Reading Variable Interest Entity (VIE) Structure for Foreign Investment in the PRC May Face Challenge

by Yang Hua  Connie Zhuang     King & Wood’s Intellectual Property  Group

On September 2, 2011, the Legislative Affairs Office of China’s State Council released a circular seeking public comments on proposed revisions to the Trademark Law of the People’s Republic of China (the "Draft Revisions").

The most notable amendments in the Draft Revisions are provisions aimed at preventing bad faith filings and changes to the trademark opposition procedures.Continue Reading The Revised Trademark Law of China Open for Public Comment

金杜律师事务所知识产权组

2011年9月2日，《中华人民共和国商标法》（修订草案征求意见稿，“修订草案”）已由国务院法制办公室向社会公布，公开征求意见。

“修订草案”中最为瞩目的修改内容包括制止恶意抢注方面的规定以及商标异议程序的变化。

“修订草案”规定，如商标申请人与权利人因存在合同、业务往来、地域关系或其他关系而知晓权利人在中国大陆在先使用的商标却恶意申请，即使权利人的商标在中国大陆尚未因足够的使用已产生一定影响，也可能得到保护；而且，如权利人的商标显著性较强且具有一定影响，可阻止他人在非类似商品上抢注与之容易导致混淆的商标。前述规定对制止当前较为猖獗的违反诚实信用原则的恶意申请具有一定的作用，但尚不能完全解决所有问题。Continue Reading 关于《中华人民共和国商标法》（修订草案征求意见稿）的主要内容简介

by King and Wood’s Finance Group

Further to Circular No. 145, on 14 October 2011 PBOC released new rules on RMB FDI, the Measures on Administration of the RMB Settlement in relation to Foreign Direct Investment ("PBOC Rules") to roll out PBOC’s detailed management system.  The PBOC Rules cover all the FDI aspects denominated in RMB, including capital injection, payment of purchase price in the acquisition of PRC companies, repatriation of dividends and distribution as well as RMB denominated cross-border loans.  The PBOC Rules adopt similar methodology applied by SAFE to foreign currency FDI but appear to be more friendly.  On the same day, MOFCOM also issued a circular ("MOFCOM Circular") to clarify certain issues in relation to cross-border RMB FDI transactions.
We highlight the following aspects we deem of significance:Continue Reading RMB FDI Goes to Fast Track

金杜律师事务所 融资组

继银发(2011)145号文之后, 2011年10月14日中国人民银行就人民币外商直接投资出台新规则《外商直接投资人民币结算业务管理办法》(“人行办法”), 规定了有关人民币结算的具体操作。 人行办法涉及到以人民币进行外商直接投资的方方面面, 包括资本注入、并购中国企业购买价款的支付、股息和利润分配的汇出以及人民币跨境贷款。  人行办法延续了外管局对外汇直接投资的监管思路, 但程序更为简便。 同一天, 商务部也出台通知(“商务部通知”)规定了跨境人民币直接投资交易的相关问题。

我们认为比较重要的方面包括:Continue Reading 人民币外商直接投资进入快车道

By King & Wood’s Intellectual Property Group

China’s State Intellectual Property Office (SIPO) is able to issue compulsory patent licenses where an entity or individual who is otherwise qualified to exploit a patent does not succeed in obtaining a license on  reasonable terms and within a reasonable period from the patent holder. The new Patent Law of the PRC (the “Patent Law”) and the Implementing Rules of the Patent Law of the PRC (the “Implementing Rules”) both contain provisions regarding the compulsory licensing of patents. On October 12, 2011, the SIPO issued a circular to solicit public comments on the Amendments to the Measures on Compulsory Patent Licensing (Draft for Comments) (the “Draft Amendments”). The SIPO will be taking comments until November 13, 2011.Continue Reading SIPO Issues Amendments to Compulsory Patent Licensing Measures

By King & Wood’s Finance Group

After seeking public comments in a wide range and holding several times discussions with bankers and lawyers, on 9th October 2011 CBRC promulgated the Rules on the Distribution of the Wealth Management Products of the Commercial Banks ("CBRC Rules"). The CBRC Rules maintains major content of the Interim Rules on the Commercial Bank’s Wealth Management Business to the Individuals and the Guidelines on Risk Management on the Commercial Bank’s Wealth Management Business to the Individuals in 2005, at the same time, CBRC Rules provides new requirements in key fields. In the current banking market, the funds is seriously short, and the interest rates for the deposit are very low and the means of investment are very limited, therefore, banks and their clients will pay much more attention to the sales of the wealth management products.Continue Reading CBRC New Rules on the Sales of Wealth Management Product by Commercial Banks

金杜律师事务所知识产权组

在中国，具备实施条件的单位或个人不能以合理条件或在合理期限内取得专利权人许可的情况下，国家知识产权局可以对该专利实施强制许可。中国专利法和专利法实施细则都规定了专利强制许可。国家知识产权局于2011年10月12日发布通知，就《专利实施强制许可办法修订草案（征求意见稿）》（办法草案）于11月13日前向社会各界征求反馈。Continue Reading 国家知识产权局对专利实施强制许可办法修订草案征求反馈