Trademark

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On August 17, 2021, the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) issued “Judgement Standard for General Trademark Violations (Draft for Public Comments)” (hereinafter referred to as the “Standard”) and made it available for public comments. The Standard, which mainly bases on the Trademark Law and the Regulation on the Implementation of the Trademark Law, aims to strengthen operational guidance on trademark enforcement, unify enforcement standards and optimize the innovation environment and business environment. Any comments for the Draft shall be submitted to the CNIPA before October 1, 2021.
Continue Reading China National Intellectual Property Administration issued “Judgement Standard for General Trademark Violations (Draft for Public Comments)”

On 18 August 2021, the Supreme People’s Court of the P.R.C. issued the “Interpretation of the Supreme People’s Court on Several Issues Concerning the Application of the Anti-Unfair Competition Law of the People’s Republic of China (Draft for Comments)” (hereinafter referred to as the “Draft for Comments”) for public review and opinions. The Draft for Comments represents the Supreme Court’s first move of making comprehensive amendment[1] of the “Interpretation of the Supreme People’s Court on Several Issues on the Application of Law in Hearing Civil Cases Regarding Unfair Competition” (hereinafter referred to as the “2007 Judicial Interpretation of the Anti-Unfair Competition Law” or “2007 Interpretation”), which has been in effect since 2007. The Draft for Comments accommodates the 2017 and 2019 amendments of “Anti-Unfair Competition Law of the People’s Republic of China” (hereinafter referred to as the “Anti-Unfair Competition Law”) and reflects on and summarizes the relevant rules in judicial practice over the past few years.
Continue Reading Highlights of the Draft for Comments of the Judicial Interpretation of the Anti-Unfair Competition Law of the PR.C.

On April 22, 2021, Xiamen IP Tribunal issued a judgment for Emerson Electric Co. (“Emerson”), ordering the defendants – Company A, Company H, and their person in charge, Mr. W – to stop its trademark piracy that had been lasted for 10 years, compensate attorney fees, and make a public statement to eliminate negative effects.
Continue Reading Chinese Court Issues Its First Injunctive Order against Trademark Piracy and Granted Recovery of Attorney Fees for the Genuine Brand Owner

As the November 11 (also called Double 11) Shopping Festival is approaching, the competition among the major e-commerce APPs is intensified. Having a good name will naturally help the APP get accepted and used by the App users.
Continue Reading Keywords of New E-commerce Double 11 Shopping Festival: The Importance of the Trademark Rights for E-commerce APPs

The recent success by King & Wood Mallesons in representing its Australian client in invalidating series of “西瓜忍者(Watermelon Ninja in Chinese characters)” trademarks, is a good example to show how the CNIPA applies Article 44 (1) in such bad faith related cases.
Continue Reading Invalidation against “西瓜忍者 (Watermelon Ninja in Chinese)” by “水果忍者 (Fruit Ninja in Chinese)” of Hlafbrick Studios Pty Ltd – a Typical Example of how Article 44 Applies to Trademark Squatting

On June 15, 2020, the China National Intellectual Property Administration(CNIPA) enacted the “Trademark Infringement Judgment Standard” (hereinafter referred to as the “Standard”), which came into force from the date of promulgation. Within the framework of the Trademark Law, the Standard, based on the guiding function of trademark law enforcement, systematically combed and summarized the beneficial experiences and practices of trademark administrative protection over the years, providing operational guidelines for trademark law enforcement departments to perform law-based administration, helping to improve the trademark protection rule system, solving difficult and complicated problems in law enforcement practice, creating a transparent and predictable IP protection environment for market players, and further enhancing trademark law enforcement and protection.
Continue Reading China National Intellectual Property Administration enacted “Trademark Infringement Judgment Standard”

Trademark squatting has been a common occurrence in China for many years, and even been a kind of “business” by trademark squatters, which has caused huge troubles to brand owners. It is not the case, as ordinary people might think, that all types of trademark squatting can be regulated by the explicit provisions of existing laws, otherwise the phenomenon would not be so difficult to eradicate.
Continue Reading A new ground to defend bad faith trademark registration – CNIPA rules that new trademark application should reasonably yield to prior trademark right if the applicant has full awareness of other’s prior trademark

Recently, Guangzhou IP Court ruled on its first trademark infringement and unfair competition case regarding parallel import, in which it found such acts should neither constitute trademark infringement nor unfair competition.
Continue Reading First Trademark Infringement and Unfair Competition Case regarding Parallel Import Concluded by Guangzhou IP Court

Our client, a Chinese garment enterprise, owns the registered trademark “DEICAE” and its corresponding Chinese trademark “迪赛(DiSai in Pinyin)”. DIESEL S.P.A, a famous Italian garment enterprise, filed an invalidation application against the Chinese trademark “迪赛” of our client, arguing that “迪赛” is similar to its prior trademark “DIESEL”, and thus the disputed mark “迪赛” shall be invalidated.
Continue Reading Case Study of Invalidation against “迪赛 (DiSai in Pinyin) ”: Application and Protection of Transliteration Trademarks in China

By King and Wood Mallesons

On 31 December 2019, Guangdong People’s Higher Court made its ruling on the trademark infringement and unfair competition civil suit between Italian luxury brand Bvlgari and Hunan Taskin Investment Co. Ltd, etc., recognizing the former’s “BVLGARI 宝格丽” mark under Reg. No. 3811212 for “accessories (jewelry); watches” a well-known trademark, and consequently holding the defendant’s use of “宝格丽 (Bvlgari in Chinese characters)” and “宝格丽公寓 (Bvlgari Residential Building in Chinese characters)” in a prominent manner on commercial properties the defendant developed and on the promotional materials thereof constitute infringement against Bvlgari’s aforementioned trademark registration.
Continue Reading KWM assisted Italian luxury brand Bvlgari to win trademark infringement & unfair competition suit with well-known trademark recognition