Trademark

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By Cecilia Lou  Ding Xianjie Yao Di  King and Wood Mallesons’ IP Legal Group

The current PRC Trademark Law (“Law”) was implemented in 1983, and revised in 1993 and 2001, and it has played a significant role in supporting the development of the PRC social economy since its implementation. However, the current Law is complained a lot in practice mainly because the registration procedure is fairly complex and time consuming, bad faith registration is common and difficult to stop and it provides insufficient protection against trademark infringement. Thus, The latest draft of revision of PRC Trademark Law Draft (“the Draft”) has been released and is currently open for any public comments until January 31, 2013. Generally speaking, the Draft addresses to the above mentioned issues.
Continue Reading Five Issues You should be Aware of the Latest Draft of Revision of PRC Trademark Law

By King & Wood Mallesons’ Trademark Group

On December 16, 2011, the Supreme People’s Court of China issued the Opinions on Exerting the Function of Intellectual Property Rights Judgment to Facilitate Socialist Cultural Development and Prosperity and Promote Independent and Coordinated Economic Development (the "Opinions"). The Opinions provide several guidelines on the trial of trademark infringement cases, which mainly touch upon the following issues:

a. Deliberate plagiarism in bad faith. To determine whether an alleged infringer has acted in bad faith, the trial court shall adopt comprehensive criteria by taking into account the reputation and distinctiveness of trademarks, similarities between trademarks and designated goods, and whether the applicant/registrant has the intention to use the mark and the improper use of the marks, such as trademark squatting and free-riding activities.Continue Reading The Supreme People’s Court: Giving Full Play to Intellectual Property Trial Functions

作者：金杜律师事务所商标组

2011年12月16日，最高人民法院印发了《关于充分发挥知识产权审判职能作用推动社会主义文化大发展大繁荣和促进经济自主协调发展若干问题的意见》的通知，针对知识产权问题的审判工作提供了指导性意见，其中有关商标的重要内容包括：

1. 关于恶意抢注等不正当行为： 依法加强商标权保护，要根据商标的知名度、显著程度等，恰当运用商标近似、商品类似、在先使用并且有一定影响的商标、以欺骗或者其他不正当手段取得商标注册等裁量性法律标准，妥善把握商标注册申请人或者注册人是否有真实使用意图，以及结合商标使用过程中的“傍名牌”行为认定主观恶意等加大遏制恶意抢注、“傍名牌”等不正当行为的力度。Continue Reading 一最高人民法院最新有关充分发挥知识产权审判职能作用的意见

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

Whether revocation of the certificate of incorporation will result in deprivation of the capacity of trademark owners as well as the trademark rights depends on the nature of the trademark owners.

The term "trademark owners" refer to any individuals, legal entities or other organizations that enjoy trademark rights under the law.  Trademark owners include original owners and their successors.  According to Article 9 of the amended PRC Trademark Law, the eligible trademark applicants are defined as enterprises, institutions, social organizations, privately or individually-owned businesses, individual partnerships, foreign individuals and foreign enterprises.Continue Reading Can Trademark Right Still Exist When a Certificate of Incorporation Is Revoked?

作者：金杜律师事务所商标组

权利人营业执照被吊销是否会导致商标权利人主体资格和商标权利的丧失，这取决于商标权利人的性质。

“商标权利人”，也就是商标权的所有人，是指依法享有商标权利的任何自然人、法人和其他组织。商标权利人包括最初权利人和继受权利人。经过对《商标法》的数次修改，目前在《商标法》第9条中规定的商标申请人为企事业单位、社会团体、个体工商户、个人合伙、外国人和外国企业。Continue Reading 营业执照被吊销，商标权利还存在么？

By King & Wood’s Trademark Group

In March, the leading domestic industrial recorder enterprise Hangzhou Pangu Automation Systems Co., Ltd. ("Pangu Ltd.", 杭州盘古自动化系统有限公司) found that searching on www.baidu.com ("Baidu", 百度公司) for "Pangu recorders (in Chinese)" etc. returned results heading "Pangu recorder professional manufacturer Hangzhou Mengkong instruments www.mkong.com.cn (in Chinese)", and clicking the link leads to the website of Hangzhou Mengkong Instrument Technology Co., Ltd. ("Mengkong", 杭州盟控仪表技术有限公司).Continue Reading First Instance Court Finds that Internet Keywords Constitute Infringement by Using Unauthorized Trademark

作者：金杜律师事务所商标组

今年3月，国内工业记录仪龙头企业杭州盘古自动化系统有限公司，发现在百度网站www.baidu.com搜索“盘古记录仪”等时，返回的搜索结果的第一条的标题为“盘古记录仪专业生产厂家，杭州盟控仪表www.mkong.com.cn”，点击后即进入杭州盟控仪表技术有限公司)的企业网站。

盘古公司早在2002年10月14日就已经在“集成仪表；工业自动化控制系统”商品上注册了“PG图+PANGU+盘古”文字图形组合商标（如下图所示）。Continue Reading 一审认定将他人商标设为网络搜索关键词构成商标侵权

King & Wood’s Intellectual Property Group

In recent years, the world has witnessed several milestone events signaling the arrival of a new generation of global internet companies. Apart from the much-hyped dawn of social media, there is a much broader trend taking place, one that has outgrown the traditional boundaries of the tech sector itself. “In short,” as Marc Andreessen wrote in a recent Wall Street Journal column, “software is eating the world.” As corresponding developments are happening in China, this new era has caused and will continue to cause dramatic implications on the monitoring and enforcement of intellectual property rights in the country. Continue Reading Enforcing Intellectual Property Rights in the Next Internet Era