作者：金杜律师事务所银行组

2012年2月24日，中国银行业监督管理委员会（“银监会”）发布了《绿色信贷指引》（“《指引》”），要求银行业金融机构大力促进节能减排和环境保护，防范环境和社会风险（1）。《指引》适用于境内设立的政策性银行、商业银行、农村合作银行、农村信用社。村镇银行、贷款公司、农村资金互助社和非银行金融机构参照执行。《指引》对银行业金融机构在以下方面提出了一些具体的要求：

Continue Reading 绿色信贷指引

By Susan Ning and Liu Jia

Most recently,a piece of news related to the Anti-Monopoly Law ("AML")indicates that, the National Development and Reform Commission("NDRC")who is in charge of the implementation of the Price Law and price-related antitrust violation, communicated with the State Administration of Radio, Film, and Television("SARFT")1, for SARFT’s proposed draft of Guidance on Further Regulation of Movie Ticket Business("draft Guidance").It is reported that SARFT is suspected of abusing its administrative power for fixing the price of movie tickets.
 

Fact
 

On 26 February 2012, the draft Guidance was posted on the internet by a micro-blogger. According to the draft Guidance, SARFT divides the sales market of movie tickets into several districts, and sets the guided price (i.e.highest retail price) of movie tickets for each of the district.  It also provides that the movie tickets for theater members and group buyers should not be sold for less than 70% of the listed price.

Continue Reading Does SARFT Have the Authority to Regulate Movie Ticket Price?

By Sun Mingfei King & Wood Mallesons’ Dispute Resolution Group, Guangzhou Office

As Chinese courts rarely accept copyright disputes concerning computer user interfaces, the case of Shenzhen TP-LINK Technologies Co., Ltd vs. Shenzhen Tenda Technology Co., Ltd and Zhang Yabo (the "TP-LINK Case") represents a significant precedent in dealing with similar cases. It is highly controversial even for copyright or computer experts to answer questions such as whether computer user interfaces are under the protection of China’s Copyright Law or how to judge originality of a work in the case.

Continue Reading Landmark Copyright Case on Computer User Interfaces

作者：孙明飞 金杜律师事务所争议解决组，广州办公室

中国法院极少受理计算机用户操作界面著作权纠纷案件，深圳市普联技术有限公司诉深圳市吉祥腾达科技有限公司、张亚波侵犯计算机用户操作界面著作权纠纷上诉案，对于同类案件的处理有着重要的参考价值。计算机用户操作界面是否属著作权法中所称的作品，如何界定作品的独创性？这些问题在司法实践中属于新生事物，几乎没有太多经验可以借鉴，研究版权的专家学者甚至计算机领域的专家对此也分歧很大。

Continue Reading 侵犯计算机用户操作界面著作权纠纷案评析

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

Since the reform and opening-up policy was introduced in 1978, especially in the past ten (10) years, the People’s Republic of China (the "PRC" or "China") has undergone significant changes.  China is a growth engine for the worldwide economy, fueling global expansion via higher output and trading relationships with other nations as well as greater contributions from domestic consumption.  Over last nine (9) months of 2011, China has already attracted contractual inbound foreign direct investment of USD177.8 billion.  Notwithstanding China’s status as one of the world’s largest economies, and the massive amounts of foreign money invested in China, the basic laws and rules in China governing foreign investment seems mysterious for those who want to invest in China or are accustomed to laws of their countries.

Continue Reading Overview of Doing Business in China

作者：曾宪武 金杜律师事务所外商投资组

自1978年改革开放以来，特别是最近十（10）年，中华人民共和国（“中国”）发生了巨大变化。中国成为世界经济的增长引擎，通过其日益强劲的出口、与其他国家日益密切的贸易合作关系以及国内消费的增长，为世界经济发展加油。在2011年的前（九）9个月，中国已经吸引了1778亿美元的合同外资金额。尽管中国是全球最大经济体之一，并且吸引了规模巨大的外资到中国进行投资，然而，中国有关外商投资的基本法律法规，对于那些想到中国投资的或者熟悉其本国法规的外国投资者而言，却似乎仍显得神秘。为使您对中国的政治体制、法律制度和投资环境有更好的了解，我们在本文中对中国的商业法律环境进行了简要概述，以供参考。

Continue Reading 外商在中国投资综述

Dear friends and readers,

On 1 March, King & Wood, the leading Chinese law firm, brings together with the premium Australia law firm, Mallesons Stephen Jaques, to set up the largest international legal network in Asia Pacific region. The firm will be operated under the name of King & Wood Mallesons (金杜律师事务所).

Continue Reading KING & WOOD MALLESONS

By Susan Ning, Liu Jia and Hazel Yin

China Securities Regulation Commission ("CSRC") is the authority in charge of supervising Chinese listed companies.  In August 2010 and November 2011, CSRC published on its website two FAQs addressing application of the merger control regime under the Anti-Monopoly Law ("AML") to listed companies.
 

Continue Reading CSRC’s Guidance on Merger Control of Listed Chinese Companies

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