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This article is the English translation for Mr. Wang’s article in Chinese published on China Trademark magazine (Issue 3, 2011). China Trademark magazine is sponsored by China Trademark Association under supervision of the State Administration for Industry and Commerce (SAIC) overseeing the Chinese Trademark Office (CTMO) and the Trademark Review and Adjudication Board (TRAB).
The DUCK KING trademark re-trial is listed as No. 7 of China 2013 Top 10 Innovative IP Cases (published by the Supreme People’s Court on April 21, 2014).
The English translation below [CASE BRIEF and INNOVATIVE SIGNIFICANCE] is prepared by Beijing East IP Law Firm for reference merely, based on Chinese Language Version published by the Supreme People’s Court. Beijing East IP Law Firm also provides comments and analysis on this case.
Article 31 of the Chinese Trademark Law states that “using unfair means to preemptively register the trademark of some reputation of another person has used” shall not be registered. According to the provision’s language, fame of the prior mark and the bad faith of the trademark applicant are the two applicable elements of the bad faith filing prescribed by Article 31.
On March 17, 2014, the State Intellectual Property Office (SIPO) issued Order No. 68. Under this Order, graphic user interface (GUI) is becoming eligible for design patent protection as of May 1, 2014.
Since the reform and opening-up in 1978, China has seen huge increase of foreign direct investment. More and more foreign companies have set up their R&D centers in China, hence making more and more invention-creations therein.
As a famous luxury hotel band around the world, the RITZ-CARLTON mark owned by Ritz-Carlton hotel was recognized by China court recently. Both the trial court (Beijing First Intermediate Court) and the appellate court (Beijing High Court) overruled the decision of the Trademark Review and Adjudication Board (TRAB), and recognized the RITZ-CARLTON mark on hotel services and restaurant services as a well-known mark.
China is becoming an arena of significant importance where companies are taking advantage of patent portfolios against competitors. According to “2012 Intellectual Property Rights Protection in China” issued by State Intellectual Property Office of China, in 2012, local people’s courts around China accepted 9,680 patent civil cases, with year-on-year increase of 23.80%.
This “Guidance on Hearing Rewards or Remunerations Disputes of Service Invention Made by an Employee-Inventor or Designer” was promulgated by IP tribunal of Shanghai High People’s Court in June, 2013.
On August 30, 2013, China National People’s Congress enacted the amended the Chinese Trademark Law, and the new Chinese Trademark Law shall come into effect as of May 1, 2014. The current Chinese Trademark Law was enacted in 1982, and amended in 1993 and 2001 respectively. In December 2012, June 2013 and August 2013 respectively, the National People’s Congress has reviewed the draft amendments of the Chinese Trademark Law three times. We have sorted out the key amendments of new Chinese Trademark Law. Please see below the brief.
The Supreme Court held that “as long as the content inferred directly and unambiguously from the original disclosure is obvious to the person skilled in the art, such content belongs to the original disclosure of the filing document under Article 33 of the Chinese Patent Law.”