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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

By King & Wood’s Trademark Group

One reader puts forward some questions regarding tort liability of the on-line BBS owners:

I am interested in the court’s decision in Wang Hai Yang case but do not read Chinese. I note that the case has been appealed and want to know the court’s decision particularly on the tort liability law and the right to reputation and privacy. Since the Tort Liability Law came into effect, I want to know if there had been any changes to the court’s interpretation to right to privacy and right to reputation after Wang Fei case.

For your questions, please see below our reply:Continue Reading Comments to ‘Tort Law Provides Supplementary Protection to IP Rights’

By King & Wood’s Trademark Group

There has been a long debate on whether an unregistered trademark can be the subject of a franchise contract in China. Proponents argue that an unregistered trademark is the franchiser’s property and is thus eligible for being franchised so long as it is of economic value in the eyes of the franchisee. Opponents of this argument see an unregistered trademark as not legally owned by a franchiser without going through the trademark registration process and therefore not eligible for being licensed in a franchise contract. The Regulation on Administration of Commercial Franchises ("Regulation on Franchises") (商业特许经营管理条例) enacted by the State Council of the PRC on February 6, 2007, while clearly including registered trademarks, enterprise marks, patents and know-how into the checklist of business resources that a franchiser "possesses" for franchising, fails to touch on the issue of unregistered trademarks. However, it leaves room by putting the catch-all of "any other business resource" undefined.Continue Reading An Unregistered Trademark is Formally Franchisable in Beijing

金杜律师事务所商标组

未注册商标能否成为特许经营合同标的？长久以来争论不休。正方观点认为，未注册商标是特许人的无形财产，只要被特许人认可其经济价值，即可成为特许标的。反方观点认为未经注册，特许人未在法律上获得商标所有权，因此未注册商标不能作为特许人的经营资源而被许可给他人。国务院2007年2月6日颁布的《商业特许经营管理条例》明确把注册商标、企业标志、专利、专有技术列为特许人拥有的可许可给其他经营者使用的经营资源，但并未提及未注册商标。不过，与此同时，该《条例》又以“等经营资源”的表述方式留出解释空间。Continue Reading 北京正式确认未注册商标为可特许资源，其他地区待确认