On July 16, 2021, the State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) published a Notice entitled “Innovating the way of popularizing the law, strengthening the case analysis activities of anti-unfair competition through case interpretation, and achieving good results” (创新普法方式 强化以案释法反不正当竞争案例解析活动取得良好效果). The Notice includes a list of ten typical anti-unfair competition administrative cases with comments, of which 4 are intellectual property related (trade secret and trademark). SAMR summaries and comments follow.
Category: Unfair Competition
Beijing Intellectual Property Court Affirms Jaguar Land Rover’s Win Against Landwind for Copying Evoque
According to a report in China’s IPR Daily, on May 27, 2021, the Beijing Intellectual Property Court affirmed Jaguar Land Rover’s (JLR) win against Landwind (陆风) for unfair competition relating to the Landwind X7, a vehicle that looks remarkably similar to the JLR Evoque. Landwind must issue an apology, pay compensation and cease infringing. Earlier, JLR successfully invalidated Landwind’s design patent for the X7. However, JLR failed in its claim for copyright infringement on appeal.
L’Occitane’s 9 Million RMB Award for Trademark Infringement in China Affirmed on Appeal
On June 7, 2021, the Zhejiang Higher People’s Court announced it has affirmed an award of 9 Million RMB ($1.4 Million USD) and an injunction to L’Occitane for trademark infringement and unfair competition. L’Occitane had earlier sued Zhejiang Junda Biotechnology Development Co., Ltd. (浙江君大生物科技发展有限公司) and Guangzhou Ailian Cosmetics Co., Ltd. (广州市爱莲化妆品有限公司) for the sale of Andorheal Fragrance Body Lotion in a bottle similar to L’Occitane’s Cherry Blossom Shimmered Lotion as well as the use of L’Occitane’s cherry blossom trademark.
China’s State Administration for Market Regulation Releases 2021 Legislative Work Plan
On April 1, 2021, China State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) released the 2021 legislative work plan (国家市场监督管理总局2021年立法工作计划), with 8 of the 61 matters related to intellectual property law. The 8 cover patent, trademark and trade secret matters including laws and administrative regulations and departmental rules.