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By Jiao Hongbin King & Wood’s Intellectual Property Group

In December 2011, the Deputy Director of the State Intellectual Property Office of the P.R.C. expressed that China would in the near future promote amendments to the Patent Law, the Trademark Law and the Copyright Law of the P.R.C. as well as associated regulations, increase the amount of fines, and conduct research on applying punitive damage awards to profit-generating intentional infringement and counterfeiting acts.  This suggests that punitive damage awards may be adopted into China’s intellectual property (IP) protection framework.

Liability for infringement can be compensatory or punitive, depending on the purpose of the compensation to be granted.  According to the current Patent Law, Trademark Law and Copyright Law of the P.R.C., the amount of compensation is determined by the basis of compensation and is calculated in accordance with the actual losses suffered by the rights owner or the benefits obtained by the infringer (and by reference to the reasonable multiples of the royalties in a patent infringement case), and while neither of the two elements could be determined, a People’s Court can award a statutory compensation amount within the scope provided by the law.Continue Reading Intellectual Property Cases in China May Result in Punitive Damage Awards

作者：矫鸿彬 金杜知识产权组

2011年12月，中国国家知识产权局副局长贺化在全国外商机构保护知识产权座谈会上表示，今后一段时期，中国将加快修订有关法律法规和规章，将推进专利法、商标法、著作权法等法律及配套法规的修改，提高罚款数额，研究引入对营利性故意侵权和假冒伪劣行为的惩罚性赔偿制度。这表明，惩罚性赔偿制度将有可能被引入中国的知识产权保护体系中。

从赔偿的目的来看，侵权赔偿责任可以分为补偿性责任和惩罚性责任。根据中国现行的专利法、商标法和著作权法的规定，侵权赔偿数额的确定是以补偿性为原则，按照权利人所受到的实际损失或者侵权人所获得的利益确定（专利侵权案件中还可以参照专利许可使用费的倍数合理确定），二者均难以确定的情况下，则由人民法院在法律规定的范围内确定法定赔偿数额。Continue Reading 中国知识产权保护将可能引入惩罚性赔偿制度

By Wu Wei and Su Shaohua King & Wood’s Dispute Resolution Group

Under China’s anti-bribery laws, the value of bribes in commercial bribery cases is calculated on a cumulative basis in the conviction and sentencing process. However, such calculations may yield varying results in practice. According to our experience, due to a lack of clarity in the law and various policy rationale for fighting corruption, cumulative calculations give rise to risks of criminal liability, whether seen as accepting or offering bribes.

I. Calculation of Value for Bribes Accepted

A. Legislation

a. The second paragraph of Article 383 of the Criminal Law of the People’s Republic of China(1) ("Criminal Law") provides:" Toward those who have committed repeated crimes of graft, all amounts of graft of unhandled cases are to be added in meting out punishment." Article 386 of Criminal Law provides:" whoever commits the crime of accepting bribes is to be punished on the basis of Article 383 of this law according to the amount of bribes and the circumstances. A heavier punishment shall be given where a bribe was specifically demanded."Continue Reading Calculation of Value in Commercial Bribery Cases

作者：吴巍 苏少华 金杜律师事务所争议解决组

对贿赂犯罪定罪量刑时，行贿受贿数额在何种情形下会被累计计算，实务中的做法不统一。在司法实践经验中，由于法律规定不够明确、打击腐败的政策等原因， 无论是受贿还是行贿均存在被累计计算的法律风险。具体分析如下：

一、受贿罪累计计算问题

1、法律规定

（1）《中华人民共和国刑法》（1）（“《刑法》”）第三百八十三条第二款规定：“对多次贪污未经处理的，按照累计贪污数额处罚。”第三百八十六条规定：“对犯受贿罪的，根据受贿所得数额及情节，依照本法第三百八十三条的规定处罚。索贿的从重处罚。”Continue Reading 商业贿赂数额累计计算问题

by Feng Ai and Chen Xunan  King & Wood’s Finance Group

In the process of an Initial Public Offering ("IPO"), the issuer’s intellectual property ("IP"), such as trademarks, patents, copyrights and know-how, is often directly related to the issuer’s competitive advantage and long term profitability. The Examination and Verification Committee of the China Securities Regulatory Commission ("Examination and Verification Committee") often takes this fact into consideration.

I. IP Issues Arising from A share IPOs within Legal Framework

This article focuses on IP rights from the perspective of A share public offerings, and particularly on trademark, patent, know-how and copyright issues that have caught the attention of the Examination and Verification Committee.Continue Reading Intellectual Property Issues Arising from A Share Initial Public Offerings

作者：冯艾  陈旭楠 金杜律师事务所融资组

A股首发上市（Initial Public Offerings，简称“IPO”）过程中，发行人的商标、专利、专有技术、版权等知识产权（Intellectual Property，简称“IP”），直接关系到发行人的核心竞争力、持续盈利能力等，历来为审核部门的关注重点。

一、A股IPO法律规范框架内的IP问题

本文侧重探讨的，系A股IPO法律规范框架内，被审核部门特别关注的商标、专利、专有技术、版权等广义的IP。

A股IPO法律规范框架内，与IP相关的核心规定主要散见于《首次公开发行股票并上市管理办法》、《首次公开发行股票并在创业板上市管理暂行办法》、《中国证券监督管理委员会股票发行审核委员会审核工作指导意见》等规范性文件。Continue Reading A股首发上市视野下的知识产权问题

By Susan Ning, Liwei Wang and Hazel Yin

On 27 December 2011, the Ministry of Commerce ("MOFCOM") made a press release on its major merger enforcement work in 2011.1  Mr. Shang Ming, Director General of MOFCOM’s Anti-monopoly Bureau and Chairman of the General Office of the State Council’s Anti-monopoly Commission, gave a briefing at the press release and responded to press inquiries.

According to Mr. Shang, from January to mid-December, 2011, MOFCOM received a total of 194 merger control filings, an increase of 43% compared to the same period last year. Among the received filings, 179 filings have been accepted and 160 filings have been reviewed and closed.

Of the 160 closed cases, 151 cases were granted unconditional approval (94%), 4 cases were granted conditional approval (3%), and 5 cases were withdrawn by the applicants after case acceptance (3%). A breakdown of the filings by the industrial classification for national economic activities is as follows:Continue Reading AMB Director Shang Ming Speaks on Merger Enforcement in 2011

By Susan Ning and Yun Wang

On 29 December 2011, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology ("MIIT") finally promulgated the Various Provisions on Regulating the Order of Internet Information Service Market ("Rules").  Viewed by many as been driven by the QQ/360 disputes in late 2010, the Rules mainly set out the code of conducts for an internet information service provider ("IISP") vis-à-vis its competitors and consumers. The Rules also create a dispute resolution mechanism between IISPs.Continue Reading MIIT Finalizes Rules Governing Competition in Internet Industry

By King & Wood’s Trademark Group

In March, the leading domestic industrial recorder enterprise Hangzhou Pangu Automation Systems Co., Ltd. ("Pangu Ltd.", 杭州盘古自动化系统有限公司) found that searching on www.baidu.com ("Baidu", 百度公司) for "Pangu recorders (in Chinese)" etc. returned results heading "Pangu recorder professional manufacturer Hangzhou Mengkong instruments www.mkong.com.cn (in Chinese)", and clicking the link leads to the website of Hangzhou Mengkong Instrument Technology Co., Ltd. ("Mengkong", 杭州盟控仪表技术有限公司).Continue Reading First Instance Court Finds that Internet Keywords Constitute Infringement by Using Unauthorized Trademark

作者：金杜律师事务所商标组

今年3月，国内工业记录仪龙头企业杭州盘古自动化系统有限公司，发现在百度网站www.baidu.com搜索“盘古记录仪”等时，返回的搜索结果的第一条的标题为“盘古记录仪专业生产厂家，杭州盟控仪表www.mkong.com.cn”，点击后即进入杭州盟控仪表技术有限公司)的企业网站。

盘古公司早在2002年10月14日就已经在“集成仪表；工业自动化控制系统”商品上注册了“PG图+PANGU+盘古”文字图形组合商标（如下图所示）。Continue Reading 一审认定将他人商标设为网络搜索关键词构成商标侵权