On June 1, 2022, China’s National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) released its 2021 Annual Report (2021年度报告). Highlights of the report include invention patent applications have increased 5.9% year-on-year to 1.586 million; utility model patent application filings decreased 2.5% to 2.852 million; design applications increased 4.6% to 806,000. China’s invention authorization rate was 55% in 2021.
Category: Trademarks
Shijiazhuang Market Supervision Bureau Fines Trademark Agency 50,000 RMB for Attempting to Trademark Olympic Gold Medalist’s Social Media Account
On May 18, 2022, the Shijiazhuang Yuhua District Market Supervision Administration issued an Administrative Penalty Decision against a Shijiazhuang trademark agency for attempting to trademark the name of Eileen Gu’s Douyin account (TikTok’s sister app in China). Eileen Gu won three medals in the Beijing Winter Olympics earlier this year and has become extremely popular in China.
Beijing IP Court: Suing others with a trademark not obtained in good faith constitutes an abuse of rights
Recently, the Beijing Intellectual Property Court upheld a lower court’s decision and ruled that Appellee Shenzhen Chow Tai Fook Online Media Co., Ltd. (hereinafter, “Chow Tai Fook”) and Defendant Beijing Jingdong Century Commerce Co., Ltd. (hereinafter, “Jingdong”) did not infringe Appellant/Plaintiff Jun Zheng Ma’s trademark because Ma’s action of suing Chow Tai Fook with a trademark not registered in good faith constituted an abuse of rights. Background Chow Tai Fook created the brand “骄人” (pronounced jiao ren) in 2006 and …
China’s State Administration for Market Regulation Releases Typical Cases of Intellectual Property Enforcement for 2021
On April 21, 2022, the State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) released the Typical Cases of Intellectual Property Enforcement by Market Supervision Departments (市场监管部门知识产权执法典型案件). The 20 cases involved trademark infringement, patent counterfeiting, Olympic logos, malicious trademark registration and the unauthorized practice of patent law, etc. Of foreign companies involved, one Chinese company was fined 10.55 million RMB for infringement of John Deere’s trademark and another was fine 1.05 million RMB for infringement of Costco’s Kirkland trademark.