Registration and Protection of Trademarks in China Chapter XVI: Trademark Infringement and Remedies (1/6)-infringing acts and remedies available for

Registration and Protection of Trademarks in China

Chapter XVI: Trademark Infringement and Remedies (1/6)-infringing acts and remedies available for TM right holders

?(I) what acts may infringe a trademark right in China

According to the Trademark Law of the People's Republic of China, the Implementing Regulations of the Trademark Law of the People's Republic of China, the Interpretation of the Supreme People's Court on Several Issues Concerning the Application of Laws in the Trial of Trademark Civil Disputes and the Annual Report of the Supreme People's Court on Intellectual Property Cases, the following acts constitute infringement of the exclusive right to use registered trademarks:

1. Using a trademark that is identical with a registered trademark on the same goods/services without permission of the trademark registrant;

2. Using a trademark that is similar to a registered trademark on the same goods/services, or using a trademark that is identical with or similar to a registered trademark on similar goods/services without permission of the trademark registrant, which easily causes confusion;

3. Selling goods infringing a registered trademark;

4. Counterfeiting, or manufacturing without permission, the representations of another person's registered trademarks, or selling such representations;

5. Without the consent of the trademark registrant, altering the registered trademark and putting the goods bearing such an altered trademark into the market;

6. Assisting another person to infringe a registered trademark and providing convenience for infringing the registered trademark. The act of providing convenience includes providing storage, transportation, postal service, printing, concealment, business site, online commodity trading platform, etc.;

7. Acts causing other damages to others' registered trademark, including:

(1) Using any sign, which is identical with or similar to a registered trademark of another person on the same or similar goods/services, as the designation or decoration of the goods/services for the purpose of misleading the public.

(2) Prominently using the words, that are identical with or similar to a registered trademark of another person, as the name of one’s business entity on identical or similar goods/services so that the relevant public is likely to be misled.

(3) Reproducing, imitating or translating a registered well-known trademark of another person or the major part thereof to use on non-identical or dissimilar goods/services as a trademark for the purpose of misleading the public so that the interests of the registrant of the well-known trademark may be damaged.

(4) Registering, as a domain name, the words identical with or similar to a registered trademark of another person and using the domain name to carry out electronic commerce of relevant goods/services, which is liable to cause mis-identification among the relevant public.

(5) Re-sale of genuine goods after modification: the re-sale of goods after they are sold through normal and legal commercial channels usually does not constitute infringement. However, where the goods are substantially changed in the re-sale process, resulting in a change in the connection between the goods and the source, and the continued use of the trademark involved on the goods without fulfilling the obligation of reasonable notification to consumers will easily lead to confusion and damage the interests of the trademark owner, it shall constitute trademark infringement.

(6) Recycling activities that can lead to confusion and mis-identification: recycling activities shall not damage the legitimate interests of another person. Where the use of recycled containers fails to take reasonable measure to avoid harming the trademark right or other legitimate rights of another person and is sufficient to cause confusion among consumers and mis-identification about the source of goods or services, it may constitute trademark infringement.

(7) Other acts that may cause damages to a registered trademark.

?

(II) Remedies available to trademark right holders

When encountering trademark infringement, the Trademark Law gives the trademark registrant or an interested party a variety of means to protect his rights, including both private remedies and public remedies. Private remedies include warning letters, negotiation and reconciliation, and so on. Public remedies include administrative and judicial dual-track protection mechanisms. The administrative remedies are provided by administrative authorities including the local Administration of Market Regulation and the local Customs and the judicial remedies provided by judicial authorities include civil litigation and criminal litigation.

#Dakun #mark #trademark #IntellectualProperty #IP #China #infringement #remedy #TM #infringingAct