At first glance, the goals of intellectual property law and competition law might appear to conflict. IPR owners are granted statutory rights to control access and charge monopoly rents to others for use of their rights. IPR owners may also use terms of IPR licences to regulate downstream activities of their distributors, such as imposing exclusivity, territorial restraints and price restraints. Competition law, on the other hand, is directed at curtailing such market power which may prove harmful to economic welfare.
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Wine Confusion: Trademark Dispute over Cabernet
By King and Wood on
Posted in Dispute Resolution, Intellectual Property
Ting Xu, Associate, Trademark Department
On May 26, 2008, the China Trademark Review and Adjudication Board (“TRAB”) of the State Administration for Industry and Commerce (SAIC) made a decision in favor of Changyu Winery Group, upholding its exclusive use of the mark “cabernet” in Chinese （“解百纳”） as a registered trademark. The decision further found that Changyu established “解百纳” as one of its trademarks through its use and did not consider “解百纳” the generic name for these cabernet grape varieties. This means other wineries such as China Great Wall Winery, Dynasty Fine Wines Group Limited and Yantai Weilong Grape Wine Co. are prohibited from using the mark “解百纳”, which may certainly cause damage to these wine makers in marketing their products.
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China Patent Holders Beware!
By King and Wood on
Posted in Intellectual Property
There are Risks in Participating in the Formation of Standards.
On July 8, 2008, when China’s Supreme Court addressed the question raised by the Liao Ning High People’s Court arising from a patent infringement dispute, it stated, “If a patentee participates in the formulation of the Standard or agrees to incorporate its patented technology into the National Standard, the Industrial Standard and/or the Local Standard, it shall be deemed as the patentee authorizing other parties to exploit the patent for the purpose of conforming to the standards. The exploitation by the said parties may not constitute patent infringement as specified under Article 11 of the Patent Law.”
How can this impact your patent in China?
Xu Jing, Partner at King & Wood’s IP Litigation Practice
Viagra Judgment: Impact on future patent filings?
By King and Wood on
Posted in Intellectual Property
Written By Yang Hongjun, Partner
The recent decision by the Beijing Higher People’s Court revoking the Patent Reexamination Board (PRB) invalidation Decision of Pfizer’s Viagra Patent in China has put an indefinite end to a drawn out battle between domestic drug companies and Pfizer. This case, while not firmly establishing any foundation for patent examinations, has revealed many of the risks associated for all parties in proceeding into a legal dispute regarding patents in China. Continue Reading Viagra Judgment: Impact on future patent filings?