On December 21, 2020, the Beijing Intellectual Property Court announced that on December 18, 2020, the Court ruled in several administrative trademark cases that the trademark registrants forged evidence to prove use in trademark cancellation proceedings. The registrants had provided fake tax invoices to prove use via the sales. However, the tax invoices didn’t match queries with the National Value-Added Tax Invoice Inspection Platform of the State Administration of Taxation. Accordingly, the Court reversed the earlier rulings based on the …
Category: Case
The China National Intellectual Property Administration Releases Guiding Cases for Administrative Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights
On December 15, 2020, the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) released the First Batch of Guiding Cases for Administrative Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights (第一批知识产权行政执法指导案例). Administrative enforcement enables rights holders in China to petition administrative agencies to enforce their rights including issuing injunctions, seizing and destroying infringing goods and manufacturing equipment, and imposing fines on infringers. The First Batch includes 5 guiding cases for administrative enforcement of patents, trademarks, and integrated circuit layout designs.
Chinese Trademark Agency Punished for Forging CNIPA Trademark Documents
On December 9, 2020, the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) released an administrative decision dated December 7, 2020 punishing Shanghai Xuenai Trademark Office (General Partnership) (上海雪耐商标事务所（普通合伙)) and employees for forging official trademark documents. Xuenai had forged 126 documents defrauding 100 companies and 6 individuals. Apparently, Xuenai would use the fraudulent documents to solicit business by sending the documents to trademark applicants and registrants over WeChat and QQ (Chinese social media apps).
Beijing Intellectual Property Court Affirms Invalidation of Xingning Shixin Lamp Factory’s “Green Lantern” Trademark
On December 7, 2020, the Beijing Intellectual Property Court announced the affirmance of an earlier Trademark Review and Adjudication Board (TRAB) ruling invalidating the Xingning Shixin Lamp Factory’s (兴宁市时新灯具厂) “Green Lantern” trademark for damaging the name and title of the Green Lantern movie. Because of prior rights and interests enjoyed by the name, the Court affirmed the TRAB.