The Shanghai Intellectual Property Court affirmed a lower court’s judgement awarding Huayi Brothers (华谊兄弟公司) punitive damages for trademark infringement since the defendant, Huayi Cinema Era (某时代华谊影城), continued infringing after being put on notice via a cease and desist letter. The Shanghai IP Court also affirmed an injunction and a requirement for Huayi Cinema Era to change its name.
Category: Unfair Competition
China’s National Intellectual Property Administration Releases Detailed Explanation of Intellectual Property Administrative Law Enforcement Guiding Case VII for Trademark Exhaustion
On March 29, 2022, the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) released the second batch of intellectual property administrative law enforcement law enforcement Guiding Cases (Guiding Cases No. 6-8) (第二批知识产权行政执法指导案例). This batch of cases has general guiding significance for the identification and punishment of repeated patent infringement, how to reuse recycled beer bottles in compliance with intellectual property laws and regulations, and the judicial confirmation of the administrative mediation agreement for patent infringement disputes. In order to facilitate the correct understanding …
China’s Supreme People’s Court Releases Top 10 Intellectual Property Cases of 2021
On April 21, 2022 China’s Supreme People’s Court (SPC) released the Top 10 IP Cases in Chinese Courts in 2021 (2021年中国法院10大知识产权案件). The cases cover trademark infringement, unfair competition, trade secret misappropriation, antitrust, new plant variety infringement, invention patent infringement, and copyright infringement. Of particular note was Wyeth’s win for trademark infringement that resulted in a significant punitive damages award and a vanillin trade secret misappropriation case that led to one of the highest intellectual property verdicts in China. China also …
China’s Supreme People’s Court Issues Judicial Interpretation of Anti-Unfair Competition Law
On March 16, 2022, China’s Supreme People’s Court issued the Judicial Interpretation (JI) of Anti-Unfair Competition Law (UCL) (最高人民法院关于适用〈中华人民共和国反不正当竞争法〉若干问题的解释), which will go into effect March 20, 2022. The Anti-Unfair Competition Law has been used effectively by foreigners in trademark and trade dress cases when the foreigners’ trademarks have not been registered (or in addition to a trademark infringement claim for a registered trademark). Per a press conference held by the Third Civil Division of the Supreme People’s Court, one of …