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By Susan Ning, Liu Jia and Hazel Yin

On February 9, 2012, the Ministry of Commerce ("MOFCOM") published its first conditional clearance decision in 2012, approving the proposed joint venture ("JV") established by Henkel Hong Kong Holdings Co., Ltd. ("Henkel HK") and Tiande Chemical Industry Co., Ltd. ("Tiande") ("Transaction").  This is the second conditional clearance decision in relation to a joint venture and reaffirms MOFCOM’s approach that formation of a joint venture does constitute a notifiable transaction under the Anti-monopoly Law ("AML"). 1

Review Process.  MOFCOM received the notification on 8 August 2011 and  officially accepted it on 26 September 2011.  The case entered into Phase II on 25 October 2011 and the parties submitted the proposed remedies on 13 January 2012, shortly before MOFCOM decided to extend the Phase II period for another 60 days on 19 January 2012. On 9 February 2012, MOFCOM made the final decision to approve the Transaction with conditions.Continue Reading MOFCOM Issued the Second Conditional Clearance on Joint Venture

By King & Wood’s Trademark Group

Dissatisfied with the trademark registration of "BRITNEY 布兰妮 (BRITNEY in Chinese)" by a third party in China, the famous star singer Britney Spears filed suit against the China Trademark Review and Adjudication Board (TRAB) before the Beijing First Intermediate People’s Court, requesting the Court to rescind the TRAB’s decision on maintaining the registration of the mark "布兰妮BRITNEY".

The third party, Shenzhen Wanfuda Trading Co., Ltd. ("Wanfuda") filed an application for registration of the mark "BRITNEY 布兰妮 (BRITNEY in Chinese)" in August of 2001. The mark was granted registration on "clocks; watches; etc." in class 14 on January 28, 2004 by the China Trademark Office (CTMO) under Reg. No. 2010626. Ms. Spears filed an application for cancellation against the said mark with the TRAB on October 8, 2005 based on her name rights. After examination, the TRAB maintained the registration of the disputed mark. Ms. Spears was dissatisfied with the TRAB’s decision and therefore filed suit with the Court against the TRAB’s decision.Continue Reading Dispute of Name Rights: Pop Singer Britney Spears Sues TRAB

作者：金杜律师事务所商标组

因不满自己名字在中国被他人注册为商标，国际流行乐坛著名女歌星布兰妮将中国工商总局商标评审委员会（简称商评委）起诉至北京市第一中级人民法院，请求法院撤销商评委准予注册的裁定。2012年1月5日，北京市一中院判决驳回了布兰妮的诉讼请求。

2001年8月，深圳市万富达贸易有限公司（以下简称“万富达”）向中国商标局申请注册“布兰妮BRITNEY”商标。2004年1月28日，该商标被核准注册于14类的“钟、表”等商品上，注册号为2010626。2005年10月8日，布兰妮向商评委提出申请，以其姓名权为由要求商评委撤销前述注册商标。商评委经过审理裁定维持该商标的注册。布兰妮不服，将商评委告到法院，提起行政诉讼。Continue Reading 姓名权之争:”小甜甜”布兰妮状告中国商评委

By Xu Jing King & Wood’s IP Litigation Group

Overview

On April 20, 2011, the Supreme People’s Court of the People’s Republic of China (the “SPC”) promulgated the Annual Report on Intellectual Property Cases (2010) (the “Annual Report”), which comprises the SPC’s 43 pieces of brief comments on 36 IP cases adjudicated by the same court in 2010. Based upon the nature of the disputes, the Annual Report is categorized into seven main categories, including: (1) Patent Cases, (2) Copyright Cases, (3) Trademark Cases, (4) Unfair Competition Cases, (5) IP Related Contract Cases, (6) IP Infringement Liability, and (7) IP Litigation Evidence and Procedures.Continue Reading IP Report: Another Year Wiser

作者：徐静 金杜律师事务所知识产权诉讼组

概述

2011年4月20日，最高人民法院发布了《知识产权案件年度报告（2010）》（“年度报告”），年度报告中，最高人民法院对2010年36个已有最终结论性意见的案件作出了43条简短评析。根据知识产权争议的性质，年度报告分成了七个主要部分：（1）专利案件；（2）著作权案件；（3）商标案件；（4）不正当竞争案件；（5）知识产权合同案件；（6）知识产权侵权责任承担；（7）知识产权诉讼证据与程序。Continue Reading 《最高人民法院知识产权案件年度报告（2010）》评析

By Meg Utterback and Linda Davinson King & Wood’s Dispute Resolution Group

On January 1, 2012, the new International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) Arbitration rules (the "new ICC rules") came into effect (the last major revision of the ICC rules occurred in 1998). As international arbitration continues to grow in popularity with the rise of cross-border commercial disputes, the international dispute resolution centers have been keen on competitively addressing the new business needs of our global marketplace. The rules of various institutions over the last decade have become increasingly sophisticated, blending common and civil law systems to give rise to non-country specific forums to resolve international disputes.Continue Reading New Year, New Rules for ICC Arbitration including Comparison of ICC, SIAC and HKIAC

作者：胡梅（Meg Utterback） Linda Davinson   金杜律师事务所 争议解决组

2012年1月1日起，新的ICC（国际商会）仲裁规则开始实行（上一次对ICC规则进行重大修订在1998年）。随着跨境商业纠纷案件的增多，国际仲裁不断日益普及，国际争端解决中心一直热衷于通过竞争解决我们市场中出现的新业务需求。过去十年中，各个机构的规则变得越来越复杂，普通法法系和民法法系的混合导致没有特定的国家仲裁论坛来解决国际争端。

Continue Reading ICC仲裁新年新规则，以及ICC、SIAC和HKIAC的比较

By King & Wood’s Trademark Group

Whether revocation of the certificate of incorporation will result in deprivation of the capacity of trademark owners as well as the trademark rights depends on the nature of the trademark owners.

The term "trademark owners" refer to any individuals, legal entities or other organizations that enjoy trademark rights under the law.  Trademark owners include original owners and their successors.  According to Article 9 of the amended PRC Trademark Law, the eligible trademark applicants are defined as enterprises, institutions, social organizations, privately or individually-owned businesses, individual partnerships, foreign individuals and foreign enterprises.Continue Reading Can Trademark Right Still Exist When a Certificate of Incorporation Is Revoked?

作者：金杜律师事务所商标组

权利人营业执照被吊销是否会导致商标权利人主体资格和商标权利的丧失，这取决于商标权利人的性质。

“商标权利人”，也就是商标权的所有人，是指依法享有商标权利的任何自然人、法人和其他组织。商标权利人包括最初权利人和继受权利人。经过对《商标法》的数次修改，目前在《商标法》第9条中规定的商标申请人为企事业单位、社会团体、个体工商户、个人合伙、外国人和外国企业。Continue Reading 营业执照被吊销，商标权利还存在么？

By  Zeng Xianwu Bai Lihui King & Wood’s Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) Group

To achieve the initial public offering (“IPO“), there are two options for Chinese companies, onshore listing (also known as A-share listing) and offshore listing (also known as red-chip listing).  Since the conditions and qualifications for A-share listing are usually a little higher and the procedure is more time-consuming than for the offshore listing, Chinese companies which cannot meet the A-share listing’s requirements or which need to complete IPO rapidly, usually would prefer the red-chip listing.  For the red-chip listing, there are two commonly-used structures for Chinese companies: the straight-forward offshore listing structure and the VIE structure.  In addition, for the purpose of attracting foreign investors and for circumventing restrictions on foreign direct investment, during the Pre-IPO restructuring, the VIE structure is also widely used by Chinese companies and foreign companies alike.

In 2011, after a series of public events, the variable interest entity (“VIE“) structure re-attracted a lot of attention and concerns from the PRC authorities, entrepreneurs, investors and other market participants.  This essay will describe the circumstances in which the VIE structure was created, how it has been used and the changes in the regulatory environment which might affect the feasibility of utilizing the VIE structure.Continue Reading Variable Interest Entity Structure in China