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
Tag: trademark applications
IP Protection in the Chinese Metaverse
The topic of IP in the metaverse (metaverse) is gaining importance in China. The drivers are the Chinese technology groups, above all Baidu, Tencent, Alibaba, ByteDance and NetEase, which are currently racing against each other with massive metaverse trademark applications. Tencent alone has filed around 100 applications. Baidu, for example, has applied for the term Metaapp as a trademark, Alibaba for the trademark Ali Metaverse, and NetEase for the NetEase Metaverse. NetEase Group’s trademark applications… Continue reading IP Protection in the Chinese Metaverse
Beware of Forged Evidence
In China, not only products are counterfeited, but also documents often lack the authenticity required in court. For example, an individual named Zhang filed an application to cancel the Yuanshai food trademark of Tianjin Zhongying Group because the trademark had not been used for three consecutive years. Upon review, the Intellectual Property Office determined from… Continue reading Beware of Forged Evidence
Defensive Trademark Application as Inexpensive Brand Protection Strategy
In order to counter the proliferation of bad faith trademark applications by counterfeiters, foreign companies should not only register their own trademarks in China, but also trademarks with similar words, signs and designs as defensive trademarks. Although these defensive trademarks can be cancelled after three consecutive years for non-use, their registration is cheaper than other… Continue reading Defensive Trademark Application as Inexpensive Brand Protection Strategy
Intellectual Property in China: More, Faster and Better
The China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) has presented the registration figures for 2019. Foreign applications of intellectual property in China increased again last year. In 2019, the number of patent applications of inventions filed by foreign applicants reached 157,000, an increase of 6% over the previous year. The number of foreign trademark applications rose… Continue reading Intellectual Property in China: More, Faster and Better
China on the Fast Track for International Trademark Applications
A new study on Chinese Brands conducted by CompuMark shows that in just four years China has climbed up from number 10 in international filing volume of trademarks to number two. And it is very likely to outstrip the current number one, the US, in less than two years. Since some years ago China manages… Continue reading China on the Fast Track for International Trademark Applications
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