On July 22, 2023, the Zhenjiang Economic Development Zone People’s Court announced the sentencing of 15 defendants to prison sentences ranging from suspended sentences to six years six months plus fines for the crime of counterfeiting registered trademarks belong to Rolex. The amount involved in the counterfeit case that ran from July 2015 to April 2021 was over 300 million RMB.
Author: Aaron Wininger
Aaron Wininger is a Principal and Director of the China Intellectual Property at Schwegman Lundberg & Woessner.
Chinese Trademark Registrations Down 45% in First Half of 2023 Year-on-Year
In recently released data from the Chinese National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA), the number of Chinese trademark authorizations dropped just over 45% in the first half of 2023 versus the first half of 2022. Specifically, there were 2,018,119 trademarks granted in 2023 H1 versus 3,673,925 in 2022 H1. The number of foreign-originated trademark grants also dropped from 98,650 to 60,776 in 2023 H1 (down about 38%) although as a percentage foreign-originated trademark grants increased from 2.7% to 3% of total …
China’s State Administration for Market Regulation Releases Draft Anti-monopoly Guidelines in the Field of Standard Essential Patents for Comment
One June 30, 2023, China’s State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) released the Draft Anti-monopoly Guidelines in the Field of Standard Essential Patents for Comment (关于标准必要专利领域的反垄断指南(征求意见稿)). Per Article 1, the Guidelines are formed to “prevent and stop undertakings from abusing standard essential patents to exclude or restrict competition, protect intellectual property rights, improve the efficiency of economic operation, and safeguard the interests of consumers and the public interest of society.” Excerpts follow. Comments are due July 29, 2023.
China’s Utility Model Grants Down 25% in First Half of 2023; Invention Patent Grants Up 10%
Per a press conference on July 18, 2023, Hu Wenhui, deputy director of the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA), stated: In the first half of the year, a total of 433,000 invention patents and 1.104 million utility models were granted. Further, 35,000 PCT international patent applications were filed; 33,000 patent reexamination cases were concluded, and 4,433 invalidation cases were concluded. Chinese applicants submitted a total of 957 international design applications through the Hague System. Compared with the first half …