On April 22, 2024, China’s Supreme People’s Court (SPC) released the Top 10 Intellectual Property Cases of 2023 and 50 Typical IP Cases of 2023. While not officially a common law jurisdiction, these cases have “demonstration and guidance functions” for lower courts. The SPC also released the Top 10 Influential Cases earlier this year.
Category: Trademarks
3.5-Year Prison Sentence for Counterfeiting Maotai, the National Drink of China
On April 8, 2024 the Shanghai Hongkou District People’s Court announced the sentencing of three defendants for the crime of of selling goods with counterfeit registered trademarks, specifically, Maotai, a brand of baijiu, the national liquor of China. As of January 2022, the police had seized more than 200 bottles of the counterfeit Maotai with a total value of over 500,000 RMB at two stores.
China’s Supreme People’s Court Upholds 79 Million RMB Win for Château Lafite Rothschild in Wine Trademark Case
In a decision dated September 21, 2023 and only just released, China’s Supreme People’s Court (SPC) ruled for Château Lafite Rothschild upholding a judgement of 79.17 million RMB. The plaintiff in the first instance, Château Lafite Rothschild, believed that Golden Hope Company (南京金色希望酒业有限公司), Chateau Lafite Company (南京拉菲庄园酒业有限公司), Huaxia Company (南京华夏葡萄酿酒有限公司), Junteng Company (深圳市骏腾酒业有限公司), Perun Company (杭州佩伦贸易有限公司), Zui Niu Company (北京醉牛酒业有限公司), and Jiu Sheng Company (上海久圣酒类有限公司) used “LAFEI MANOR” and “拉菲庄园” to infringe on its trademark rights and damage the reputation …
China Trademark Registrations Down 29% in 2023
According to recently released statistics from the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) Chinese trademark registrations were down 29% in 2023 versus 2022. That equates to a decrease of 1.7945 million trademark registrations year-on-year. Foreigners registered 3.1% of the trademarks up from 2.9% in 2022 but a decrease in absolute numbers of 40,696 registrations from 2022 for 134,776 registrations.