04

2019-06

Interpretation of Issues Related to the Amendment of the Trademark Law

On April 23, 2019, the Standing Committee of the 13th National People's Congress decided to amend the Trademark Law of the People's Republic of China. In order to strengthen the publicity and education of the rule of law, popularize legal knowledge, and create a social atmosphere of knowing and abiding by the law, we introduce and interpret the main clauses and their application of this amendment to the Trademark Law in the form of Q&A, responding to issues of widespread concern in practice. Question 1: What is the background of this amendment to the Trademark Law? In order to implement the decisions and deployments of the Party Central Committee and the State Council, adapt to the economic and social development situation, strengthen intellectual property protection, further optimize the business environment, and solve prominent problems in practice,

03

2019-06

China's annual applications for design patents reached 709,000, and negotiations are underway to join the Hague Agreement.

Shen Changyu, head of the State Intellectual Property Office, stated at the opening ceremony of the 15th China (Wuxi) International Design Expo that in 2018, China received 709,000 applications for design patents. He indicated that future development in this area will focus on three aspects: promoting creation and application, strengthening protection, and promoting international cooperation. He also revealed that China is currently in negotiations with the World Intellectual Property Organization regarding accession to the Hague Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Industrial Designs. This will help Chinese companies more easily obtain design patent protection in other countries, allowing Chinese creativity, design, and manufacturing to better go global.

27

2019-05

Second Instance Judgment in the GoingDown Trademark Case

The examiner's imaginative explanation of the trademark "GOINGDOWN" has recently seen new developments. Let's take a look at the entire case process. Season 1: December 2017, the "GoingDown" trademark was rejected on the grounds that "goingdown" is similar to "够淫荡" (gòu yíndàng), and is likely to have a negative impact. Why does "goingdown" point to "够淫荡"? Season 2: August 2018, the decision to uphold the rejection was maintained; Season 3: November 2018, the first-instance judgment revoked the review decision; GoingDown Trademark Case First-Instance Judgment

17

2019-05

Case Example: Trademark Invalidity Declaration Case No. 14383893, “Yangzhuoyongcuo”

I. Basic Case Facts. The trademark “Yangzhuoyongcuo” No. 14383893 (hereinafter referred to as the disputed trademark) was filed for registration by Tibet Tunmi Culture Tourism Co., Ltd. (the applicant in this case) on April 15, 2014, and was approved for use on August 7, 2015, on goods in Class 29 “fish products, pickled fruits”. On April 5, 2017, Langkazi County Yangzhuo Investment Co., Ltd. (the applicant in this case) filed a request for invalidation of the disputed trademark. The applicant stated that “Yangzhuoyongcuo” is located in Langkazi County and enjoys extremely high popularity and influence in Tibet and even throughout the country.

16

2019-05

The first plenary meeting of the Expert Advisory Committee for the formulation of the Intellectual Property Powerhouse Strategy was held.

On May 14, the Office of the Inter-Ministerial Liaison Conference on the Implementation of the State Council's Intellectual Property Strategy (hereinafter referred to as the Liaison Conference) held the first plenary meeting of the Expert Advisory Committee for the Formulation of the Intellectual Property Powerhouse Strategy Outline in Beijing. Yan Junqi, Vice Chairman of the Standing Committee of the 12th National People's Congress and Director of the Expert Advisory Committee, attended the meeting and delivered a speech. Shen Changyu, Deputy Convener of the Liaison Conference and Director of the State Intellectual Property Office, presided over the meeting. Yan Junqi pointed out that under the leadership of the Party, with the Outline as the guide and the implementation of the strategy as the main line, giving full play to the advantages of China's socialist system, is the key to achieving leapfrog development and historical changes in China's intellectual property cause.

30

2019-04

Trademark Opposition Case No. 18896732, Xiangxi Ancient Prescription (one of the 20 typical cases announced by the judges)

Trademark Application: I. Basic Case Facts Trademark No. 18896732 Xiangxi Gufang (hereinafter referred to as the application trademark) was filed for registration by Tian Moumou (hereinafter referred to as the applicant) on January 15, 2016, designated for use on Class 5 goods such as "medicinal tea". After review, it was found that "Xiangxi" in the application trademark is the name of a county-level administrative division in China and cannot be used as a trademark, violating the provisions of Article 10, paragraph 2 of the Trademark Law. Therefore, the application for registration of the application trademark was rejected. The applicant, dissatisfied with the above rejection decision, filed a request for review in accordance with the law. After review, it was found that although the application trademark contains the words "Xiangxi", it is different from "Gu Fang"