On June 11, 2021, the General Office of the State Council released the Notice of the State Council’s 2021 Legislative Work Plan (国务院2021年度立法工作计划) covering 18 draft laws or draft amendments to existing laws and 28 administrative regulations. Of potential interest to intellectual property practitioners out of these 46 items is the Draft Amendment to the Anti-Monopoly Law (反垄断法修正草案) to be drafted by the State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR). This will be the first update since the law was promulgated …
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.
Chinese Invention Patent Grants Up 63% in May 2021 YoY
The China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) recently released data indicating that 2021 year-to-date invention patent grants totaled 269,706 invention patents, a 62.4% increase in cumulative grants from January through May 2020. The percentage of patents granted to foreign patentees dropped from 19.5% to 15.7% although the absolute number of patents to foreign patentees increased from 32,389 to 42,286. However, this may overstate the total number of patents granted to true foreigners as some Chinese entities file in the name …
China To Reduce Stamp Tax on Intellectual Property Transactions
On June 10, 2021, the National People’s Congress (NPC) passed the Stamp Duty Law of the People’s Republic of China (中华人民共和国印花税法) effective July 1, 2022. The Law refers to the taxes collected for various certificates that are registered in transactions in China. The name originates from the use of tax stamps pasted on the corresponding tax vouchers. While usually thought of in respect to securities sales, the stamp tax also applies to intellectual property transactions and patent grants, which will …