On August 19, 2021, the Shanghai Third Intermediate Court released a ruling on Weibo holding that the repackaging of authentic Ferrero Rocher chocolates that included printing of Ferrero Rocher labels without authorization is criminal trademark infringement. The defendant Liu procured high-count boxes of chocolates with low unit prices (e.g., 96 count) and repackaged the chocolates into smaller count boxes having higher unit prices (e.g., 8 count). While the chocolates themselves were authentic, Liu hired others to manufacture Ferrero Rocher packaging …
Category: Case
China’s Supreme People’s Court: Declaratory Judgement Actions Involving Invalidated Patents are Possible
In a recent decision highlighted by the Intellectual Property Tribunal of the Supreme People’s Court, the Court ruled that even though a patent was invalidated by the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA), it was still possible to file a declaratory judgement action to confirm non-infringement of the invalidated patent. Specifically, the Court held “that the invalidation decision of a patent does not become legally effective as soon as it is made, and that the decision is only effective when …
China’s Supreme People’s Court Rules Utility Model Patent Unenforceable if Corresponding Invention Patent Application Fails to Grants
In a decision released by the Intellectual Tribunal of China’s Supreme People’s Court (SPC) on July 23, 2021, the SPC explained that a granted utility model patent may be unenforceable when a corresponding invention patent application was rejected during substantive examination. The plaintiff had filed both utility model and invention patent applications on the same day for the same invention. While the utility model granted, the invention patent application was rejected in substantive examination for lacking novelty and inventiveness.
Tackling Bad Faith Trademark Applications or Registrations in China
by Yan Zhang, Miao Tian, Austin Chang and Aaron Wininger In order to reduce trademark squatting, the Chinese Trademark Law of China (2019 Version) (“Trademark Law 2019”) introduced an intent to use requirement as well as a good faith requirement. As will be discussed further below, recent Chinese court cases show that the introductions did in fact provide newly effective means to challenge squatters. Overview of the relevant articles in the Trademark Law 2019 The relevant articles of the Trademark …