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By Cecilia Lou  Ding Xianjie and Yao Di King & Wood Mallesons’ IP Legal Group Shang Hai Office

On November 12, 2012, the Consultation Draft of Regulations on Service Inventions (“Draft Regulation”) was released by the State Intellectual Property Office of China for public comments with immediate effect. The Draft Regulation was formulated for the purpose of protecting the legal rights and interests of the inventor-employee and the employer, to stimulate and improve the ability to innovate. For those companies which have Chinese service inventions in China, they should be aware of this Draft Regulation as it places additional pressures on employers.
Continue Reading SIPO Releases Consultation Draft of Regulations on Service Inventions

By Cecilia Lou  Ding Xianjie Yao Di  King and Wood Mallesons’ IP Legal Group

The current PRC Trademark Law (“Law”) was implemented in 1983, and revised in 1993 and 2001, and it has played a significant role in supporting the development of the PRC social economy since its implementation. However, the current Law is complained a lot in practice mainly because the registration procedure is fairly complex and time consuming, bad faith registration is common and difficult to stop and it provides insufficient protection against trademark infringement. Thus, The latest draft of revision of PRC Trademark Law Draft (“the Draft”) has been released and is currently open for any public comments until January 31, 2013. Generally speaking, the Draft addresses to the above mentioned issues.
Continue Reading Five Issues You should be Aware of the Latest Draft of Revision of PRC Trademark Law

By Ding Xianjie Cecilia Lou and Yao Di  King and Wood Mallesons’ Intellectual Property Group  Shanghai Office

On December 14, 2012, the China Trademark Office issued a Notice on Adding Trademark Specifications on Retail and Distribution Service Trademark. In this Notice, the CTMO specifies that “Retail and Distribution Service for pharmaceutical, veterinary, sanitary and medical goods” will be added in Class 35 of the Revision of 10th Edition of Goods and Services Classifications in China, and the new Revision will be effective dated January 1, 2013.

According to the Notice, the newly expanded service will not be deemed as similar to pharmaceutical goods. Also, the services are also different from prior “Distribution for others” in Class 35.
Continue Reading CTMO Released Notice to Open Trademark Registration in Retail and Wholesale Service in China

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