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By Yang Hua  Wang Fang  King&Wood Mallesons’ Intellectual Property Group

untitledWhat should we concern: prior copyright shall be regarded as a prior right being protected in China; a registered mark, which is substantively similar to the other’s prior copyrighted work, shall be announced invalid on the basis of copyright infringement.

“THE ADVENTURES OF TINTIN” (French: “LES ADVENTURES DE TINTIN”) is a world famous series of comic albums created by the Belgian cartoonist HERGE. After HERGE passing away, all the rights in association with this work have been assigned to and managed by Moulinsart which was established under the HERGE Foundation.  Since “THE ADVENTURES OF TINTIN” entered into China in 1988, this series work has gained immense popularity among the Chinese readers.  In China, Moulinsart has applied for and registered several marks for “TINTIN” and “TINTIN & Device” (drawing of this mark is listed below) in respect of various goods and services in classes 9, 16, 25, 28 and 41. The images of the boy and the dog with the bone as shown in the “TINTIN & Device” mark are the leading character “TINTIN” and his friend “Snowy” in the “THE ADVENTURES OF TINTIN”.
Continue Reading Registered trademark invalid based on prior copyright infringement

By Stuart Fuller  Paul Schroder, King & Wood Mallesons’ s Sydney Office

fuller_sschroder_pToday the China Australia Free Trade Agreement (ChAFTA) was signed and tabled in the Australian Parliament following a decade of negotiations and seven months of document review and finalisation. Good things come to those who wait (and persevere). This historic milestone will boost trade and economic growth in both countries for years to come.

The formal agreement and ancillary arrangements are consistent with the summary material released by DFAT in November. The key issues are now well-traversed: investment protections and facilitation, reduction or removal of tariffs, and increased access for services businesses. We’re excited about this historic next chapter in the Australia-China relationship and we think you should be too. We’ve spent the past seven months thinking about and engaging with our clients on what this means for them. We set out below some headline thoughts on where the biggest opportunities are.

Read full article, please click here.Continue Reading ChAFTA is here – are you ready?

By Xueli Cheng Roy Zhang and Hai Zhuo, King & Wood Mallesons’ Banking Group

cheng_xuelizhang_royOn July 10, 2015, the People’s Bank of China Guangzhou Branch issued the Interim Administrative Measures for Pilot Cross-border RMB Loan Business in Guangdong Nansha and Hengqin New Zones (the “Measures”), which provide the relevant enterprises in Guangdong Province with a new cross-border financing channel and create an additional reflux channel for overseas RMB capital. The promulgation of the Measures indicates that the preferential policy of cross-border RMB loan has been put into place in all three sub-zones of the Guangdong FTZ, i.e., Qianhai, Nansha, and Hengqin.

KWM Shenzhen Office is assisting a Hong Kong bank in handling one of the first batches of cross-border RMB loans after the promulgation of the Measures. Our brief comments on the main contents of the Measures are as follows:
Continue Reading The Launch of the Cross-border RMB Loan Policy in Nansha and Hengqin

By Qu Miao King&Wood Mallesons’ Intellectual Property Goup

qu_miaoThe Internet has introduced a new era of economic opportunity and growth, leading to the disruption of a large number of industries. It has also, however, given rise to a new set of issues and a new rights protection environment for traditional intellectual property (IP) professionals to…

By Cameron Firth and Rahul Saha, King & Wood Mallesons

Cameron FirthThe Common Market of Eastern and Southern Africa (“COMESA”) is a supra-national organisation with 19 Member States, which are Burundi, Comoros, Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Namibia, Rwanda, Seychelles, Sudan, Swaziland, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

The COMESA Competition Commission (the “CCC”) commenced operations on 14 January 2013 and implements a supra-national merger control regime under the COMESA Competition Rules and COMESA Competition Regulations 2004 (the “Regulations”). In response to calls for greater clarity and legal certainty, COMESA published the Draft Merger Assessment Guidelines in April 2013 (the “Draft Guidelines”). While the Draft Guidelines provided some clarification on certain ambiguities in the Regulations, a number of issues remained unresolved.
Continue Reading Recent developments in COMESA merger control

By Louise England, King & Wood Mallesons

Background

The decision of the Supreme Court of Victoria in Giedo van der Garde BV v Sauber Motorsport AG [2015] VSC 80 [1] was as fast as the subject matter at stake, the Second Applicant’s right to particulate in the 2015 Formula One Season and specifically, the Melbourne Grand Prix on Sunday, 15 March 2015.

The decisive judgments of the Court at first instance (Croft J) and the Court of Appeal (Whelan, Beach and Ferguson JJA) delivered in just eight days, act as a positive indication of the Supreme Court of Victoria’s efforts to be perceived as a facilitative, arbitration friendly jurisdiction that is willing to commit
its resources to encourage the effective resolution of disputes between parties.
Continue Reading Case Note – Giedo van der Garde BV v Sauber Motorsport AG

By Paul Stothard and Alexis Namdar, King & Wood Mallesons

stothard_pThere is intense and constant competition to be a venue of choice for international disputes. To gain an edge, the Dubai International Financial Centre [i](“DIFC”) and the proposed Singaporean International Commercial Court (“SICC”) are exploring whether it is possible to combine the most attractive features of international arbitration and litigation before national courts. Each means of dispute resolution has its own well known set of advantages and disadvantages.[ii]
Continue Reading Best of Both Worlds?

By Sharon Henrick, King & Wood Mallesons’ Sydney Office

henrick_sAustralia’s competition policy framework and laws are currently undergoing a wide-ranging review – the first comprehensive independent review of Australia’s competition framework since 2003. We explain the key developments and recommendations to date.

Background

In its 2013 election campaign, the Coalition of Australia’s Liberal and National political parties proposed a ‘root and branch’ review of competition laws in Australia within its first 100 days of government.
Continue Reading Reforming Australia’s competition landscape

By Ramón García-Gallardo  Alex Mizzi, King & Wood Mallesons’ Brussels Office

gallardo_rKing & Wood Mallesons SJ Berwin has successfully brought a claim for damages on behalf of Panama1 before the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (the Tribunal) in a dispute with Guinea-Bissau over the arrest and seizure of the Panamanian oil tanker, the Virginia G. The Virginia G was arrested in August 2009 by the coastal authorities of Guinea-Bissau for supplying foreign fishing vessels with fuel (“bunkering”) in Guinea-Bissau’s exclusive economic zone without authorisation. The vessel was arrested and held for 14 months, and the valuable cargo of gas oil was confiscated.

The Tribunal found that Guinea-Bissau exceeded its exclusive economic zone enforcement entitlements under the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (the Convention) by exceeding what was necessary and proportionate in the circumstances, and that Guinea-Bissau further violated the Convention by preventing Panama, as the flag state, from intervening at the outset.
Continue Reading An overview on seeking reparation before the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea

By Justin McDonnell and Natalie Caton, King & Wood Mallesons’ Brisbane Office

mcdonnell_jcaton_nAlready a hub for international arbitration and mediation, the launch of the Singapore International Commercial Court (“SICC”) on 5 January 2015 cemented Singapore as a prime destination for resolving international commercial disputes. Singapore is an ideal location particularly for those doing business in the Asia-Pacific region. Singapore’s Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon stated that the Court aimed to ‘build upon and complement the success of [Singapore’s] vibrant arbitration sector and make [Singapore’s] judicial institutions and legal profession available to serve the regional and the global community.’
Continue Reading Singapore Slings: The New Cocktail of Dispute Resolution Procedures in Singapore