{"id":1465,"date":"2019-06-27T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2019-06-27T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/oln-law.zegal.xyz\/?p=1465"},"modified":"2021-09-10T05:30:37","modified_gmt":"2021-09-10T05:30:37","slug":"amendments-to-the-prc-trademark-law-to-combat-bad-faith-trademark-fillings-and-counterfeiters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/oln-law.com\/zh-hk\/amendments-to-the-prc-trademark-law-to-combat-bad-faith-trademark-fillings-and-counterfeiters\/","title":{"rendered":"Amendments to the PRC Trademark Law to Combat Bad-faith Trademark Filings and Counterfeiters"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\u201cSeveral Provisions for Regulating Trademark Application and Registration (\u201cDraft for Comments\u201d)\u201d on 12 February 2019<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The National Intellectual Property Administration, PRC (\u201cCNIPA<\/strong>\u201d) recently published \u201cSeveral Provisions for Regulating Application for Registration of Trademarks (Draft for Comments)\u201d (referred as \u201cDraft<\/strong>\u201d ) on 12 February 2019, aiming to strengthen regulation of trademark applications and registrations, and regulate bad faith trademark application and registration that seriously disorder to the market economy and trademark administration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the Draft Provision listed out in Annex 1 an exhausted list of situations which are regarded as \u201cabnormal application<\/strong>\u201d for trademark registrations:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  1. Applying for registration of a trademark which is a imitation of others\u2019 trademarks that the relevant public are familiar with, in order to ride on other\u2019s business reputations;<\/li>
  2. Pre-emptively registering a trademark which is already used by others and has a certain influence in order to abstract other\u2019s business reputation via improper means;<\/li>
  3. Pre-emptively applying for registration of a trademark that is identical with or similar to the marks\/logos\/names over which others have prior rights, and such existence of prior rights are known or should be known to the applicant;<\/li>
  4. Applying for registration of trademarks repeatedly with obvious improper purpose;<\/li>
  5. Applying for a large number of trademark registrations within a short period of time which obviously exceeds a reasonable limit;<\/li>
  6. Applying for trademark registrations without intentional actual use, where there is no actual need to obtain trademarks exclusive right for goods and services;<\/li>
  7. Applying for trademark registrations which violating the principle of good faith, infringing the legitimate rights and interests of others or disordering the market; and<\/li>
  8. Assisting other individuals or trademark agents to perform application for trademark registrations items 1 to 7 above-mentioned.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    Activity which falls within the meaning of abnormal application above mentioned shall be regulated according to the Trademark law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Amendments to the PRC Trademark Law – passed on 23 April 2019 and will come effect on 1 November 2019<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    On 23 April 2019, the Standing Committee of the National People\u2019s Congress (\u201cNPC<\/strong>\u201d) approved several amendments of the PRC Trademark Law (\u201c2019 Trademark Law<\/strong>\u201d) mainly strengthening and regulating bad faith trademark filings (the above said Draft has indeed been primarily embodied into this amendments), which is the fourth amendment of the PRC Trademark Law after the first in 1993, the second in 2001 and the third in 2013.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The swift release of 2019 Trademark Law was unexpected after a short time of the publication of the Draft. This is very likely to facilitate the trade negotiations on one of the topics relating to the protection of Intellectual property between China and the United States.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The amendments are primarily<\/strong> in relation to three aspects and change of six Articles:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n