CHINA TRADEMARKS


Although the draft Trademark Law moves in the right direction, many concerns remain about the Chinese trademark system, says Fabio Giacopello.


THE CHINESE TRADEMARK CONUNDRUM: WILL A NEW LAW SOLVE THE CURRENT PROBLEMS?


In December 2012 a new draſt of the Trademark Law was released by


Congress, the Chinese legislative


the National People’s body.


Considering that the current Trademark Law has been in force from 2001 and that the draſt is the third issued in recent years, the trademark community expected something more. In particular, a stronger will for change in relation to bad faith registration, enforcement and improving quality was expected from the Chinese Trade Mark Offi ce (CTMO) and Trademark Review and Adjudication Board (TRAB).


Going through the main amendments, the following are noteworthy.


Bad faith registrations


Article 9 of the draſt introduces a general principle: “T e application for registration and


use of a trademark shall be made in good faith.” Article 15 contains a new paragraph which prescribes that not only trademarks fi led by “agents or representatives” will not be registered, but even trademarks fi led by business partners if proved that


they “defi nitely know” of the existence of the trademark.


T ese provisions should support the already existing ones, namely Article 34 (corresponding to Article 31 in the current law) and Article 4. T e former excludes the registration of a trademark that “harms another person’s prior rights” or that “has been used by another person and has a certain infl uence” and the “use of unfair means” is proved. T e latter has been construed as requiring a sort of intention to use the mark against so-called ‘trademark warehouses’.


18 World Intellectual Property Review Annual 2013


Unfortunately, these modifi cations do not seem enough to curb the dramatic situation of bad faith registrations. Indeed there is no defi nition of ‘good faith’ and ‘bad faith’, which leaves the grounds for interpretation to CTMO/TRAB and the People’s Court. Moreover, the wording “defi nitely knows” used in Article 15 is not promising since it fi xes a pretty high threshold. Perhaps “knew or should have known” would be more encouraging.


Enforcement


T e new draſt contains several modifi cations to the existing provisions which in general increase economic penalties.


• Administrative fi nes imposed by the Administration for Industry and Commerce (AIC) upon completion of action are


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