China’s National Intellectual Property Administration Releases 14th Five-Year Plan for Patent and Trademark Examination

Posted on Categories Patents, Trademarks

On January 20, 2022, the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) released the 14th Five-Year Plan for Patent and Trademark Examination (专利和商标审查“十四五”规划).  The Plan specifies development goals and indicator to reach by 2025. Of particular note for patent practitioners is the goal to reduce the patent examination cycle from an average of 20 months to 15 months and the potential adding of a preliminary examination for inventiveness in utility models.

China’s National Intellectual Property Administration Announces Rapid 20-Day Trademark Application Examination Program

Posted on Categories New Law, Rule or Implementing Regulation, Trademarks

On January 18, 2022, the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) released the Measures for Rapid Examination of Trademark Applications (for Trial Implementation) (商标注册申请快速审查办法(试行)) that provides for examination of certain trademark applications within 20 days of approval of a request to participate. The Measures are effective immediately.

Guest Post: TACKLING BAD FAITH TRADEMARK APPLICATIONS OR REGISTRATIONS IN CHINA – PART III

Posted on Categories Case, Trademarks

This is the third guest post in a 4-part series regarding defeating bad faith marks in China from Beijing East IP authors Yan Zhang, Miao Tian, & Austin Chang. Previously, we shared our insights on the application of bad faith clause with exemplary cases. This time, we are going to share cases to show how we identify the bad faith and how we present the evidence to convince the CNIPA and the courts to achieve favorable outcomes! Devil lies in the details …

Shanghai’s No. 3 Intermediate Court Sentences DuPont Counterfeiter to 2+ Years in Prison

Posted on Categories Trademarks

On January 6, 2022 the Shanghai No. 3 Intermediate People’s Court (上海第三中院) sentenced defendant Zhang XX for counterfeiting DuPont’s registered trademarks for pesticides and related products and was sentenced to two years and two months in prison and a fine of RMB 220,000. Further illegal gains and property was confiscated.