Under normal circumstances, OEM refers to the situation where a Chinese manufacturer enters into an entrustment contract with an overseas company that owns the trademark(s), sometimes in China but in most cases, in other jurisdictions.
Continue Reading Trademark Use or Not? Trademark Infringement or Not? –The Supreme People’s Court of the P.R.C. Made its Latest Voice in an OEM Related Trademark Infringement Case
Trademark Use or Not? Trademark Infringement or Not? –The Supreme People’s Court of the P.R.C. Made its Latest Voice in an OEM Related Trademark Infringement Case
By Jiao Hongbin and Liu Yuxin
Under normal circumstances, OEM refers to the situation where a Chinese manufacturer enters into an entrustment contract with an overseas company that owns the trademark(s), sometimes in China but in most cases, in other jurisdictions. The Chinese manufacturers are required to produce or process products according to the requirements of this overseas company, attach its trademark(s), and deliver all products to another country designated by this overseas company with no sales in China. Things become complicated when the overseas’ company’s trademarks registered outside China are registered by a third party which has no relation with the overseas company at all in China.
Continue Reading Trademark Use or Not? Trademark Infringement or Not? –The Supreme People’s Court of the P.R.C. Made its Latest Voice in an OEM Related Trademark Infringement Case
Analysis of the use of trademarks in OEM based on the legislative intent of trademark protection
By Ding Xianjie King & Wood Mallesons’ Trademark Group
Whether OEM constitutes trademark infringement has been an area of controversy in the field of intellectual property for many years. The ongoing debate has arisen recently, mainly focusing on the following three points: a) whether export-related OEM constitutes trademark infringement regulated by the Trademark Law of the PRC; b) whether OEM satisfies the requirement of “prior use” with an ability to prevent others from registering the trademark on the same or identical goods by illegitimate means; c) whether OEM can defend others’ cancellation requests on the grounds that the trademark has not been used for three years consecutively.
With regards to the abovementioned issues, the focus of the argument lies in whether the “brand-post” in OEM is a use of trademark in the sense of Trademark Law. If a) above is not satisfied, b) and c) will be problematic. This article summarizes existing case law and the prevalent literature, and concludes that the current controversy over the use of trademarks shall be weakened, but over the substance of trademark right protection.
Continue Reading Analysis of the use of trademarks in OEM based on the legislative intent of trademark protection
从商标法律对商标专用权保护的原意出发看待定牌加工中的商标使用问题
【摘要】围绕定牌加工中的“贴牌”行为涉及是否构成商标侵权、是否能构成已经使用并有一定影响以阻却他人抢注、是否构成商标使用证据以维持商标注册三个方面的问题，现有观点多囿于对于定牌加工中的“贴牌”行为是否属于商标法意义上的“使用”行为进行论争，而若在商标侵权问题中认为“贴牌”不属于使用，则会在后两种情况下遭遇尴尬。本文汇总了现有的各类典型案例和学术观点，并提出宜避开目前囿于对商标使用理解的争论，从商标法律对商标专用权保护之原意出发，根据实际情况切实保护商标专用权，力求在每个具体案件中都体现出公平正义。
Continue Reading 从商标法律对商标专用权保护的原意出发看待定牌加工中的商标使用问题
最高人民法院为OEM贴牌加工专供出口产品是否属于“商标使用行为”提供指导意见
当今中国，为发展企业标识投入大量资源的企业，在商标权利的行使和保护领域遇到了越来越多的问题。首先，企业的注册商标在未经授权的情况下被伪造者使用在相同或相似的商品上。另外，许多公司和个人在中国注册知名品牌的标识，构成“商标侵权”或“商标抢注”。一些商标侵权者试图利用知名品牌标识的品牌价值“搭便车”，而恶意抢注者可能向品牌所有者索要高额标识转让费用。然而，如果国外品牌商委托中国的贴牌加工企业（Original Equipment Manufacturer，“OEM”）代工生产专供出口产品，而该国外委托方的品牌标识已被中国第三方企业注册，这种代工行为是否构成对中国商标所有权人的商标侵权?
《中华人民共和国商标法》[i]（“《商标法》”）为商标权利合法持有人提供了可以利用的法律保护框架。商标法于1982年通过，在1993年和2001年进行了两次修订。
Continue Reading 最高人民法院为OEM贴牌加工专供出口产品是否属于“商标使用行为”提供指导意见
China’s OEM’s Manufacturing Solely for Export receive Supreme People’s Court’s Guidance on what Constitutes Trademark “Use”
By Richard W. Wigley King & Wood Mallesons’ Intellectual Property Group
In China today, companies which have invested resources in developing their marks encounter numerous problems in protecting and enforcing their trademark rights. First and foremost, they face counterfeiters who without authorization use their marks on the same or similar goods. In addition, certain companies or individuals will become “trademark pirates” or “trademark squatters” and register marks of a famous brand in China. While some trademark pirates do this to “free ride” on the brand equity of the brand owner, some trademark squatters may do it in an attempt to “negotiate” payment from the brand owner in exchange for the mark. However, if the holder of a mark in a foreign market contracts with an original equipment manufacturer (“OEM”) in China for the manufacture of goods bearing said mark solely for export where the rights to said mark in the P.R.C. are held by another entity, are such actions (i.e. the manufacture solely for export of said goods) an infringement upon the P.R.C. trademark holder’s rights?
Continue Reading China’s OEM’s Manufacturing Solely for Export receive Supreme People’s Court’s Guidance on what Constitutes Trademark “Use”