Fighting Trademark Squatting as Unfair Competition

Trademark squatting and trademark hoarding have long been a troublesome problem for many foreign companies in China. Now, a breakthrough has been made in Chinese IP jurisprudence: Trademark rights holders can sue for unfair competition against trademark applications filed in bad faith and obtain injunctive relief and damages.  One precedent is the case of Emerson… Continue reading Fighting Trademark Squatting as Unfair Competition

China Reports IP Data from 2020

In January 2021, the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) released the 2020 statistics on patents, trademarks and geographical indications (GI). According to the data, Chinese IPRs were not affected by Covid-19 in 2020, and in fact rose to a new level. This can be seen in three areas. For example, CNIPA granted a total… Continue reading China Reports IP Data from 2020

Blue Sky Project: Strict Monitoring the Trademark Agencies

In China, the first-to-file principle applies: the first person or company to register a trademark becomes the owner of the trademark. One of the biggest problems of foreign companies is trademark registration in bad faith: usually Chinese companies deliberately register the trademark(s) of a foreign company in order to make a profit from its use… Continue reading Blue Sky Project: Strict Monitoring the Trademark Agencies