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Trademark Prosecution and Opposition in China
Recent Developments and Challenges
2017.11.NTD Intellectual Property Attorneys
© All Rights Reserved1
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2017/12/14 NTD Intellectual Property Attorneys
A Great Wall of … Trademarks
1. Very different trademark system
2. Huge amount of filings and registrations
3. Serious bad faith filings
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A Great Wall of Trademarks
3 NTD Intellectual Property Attorneys
3 parts of the Wall –
1. Very different trademark system
2. Huge amount of filings and registrations
3. Serious bad faith filings
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A Very Different Trademark System
42017/12/14 NTD Intellectual Property Attorneys
- First to file system, filing is easy and cheap
- Use evidence or intention to use not required at and after filing
- Non-use cancellation available only after 3 years of registration
- Complicated subclass system based on Nice classification
- Registration is the King and basically no common law right
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What To Do
- Find US lawyers who has experiences
- Find reliable Chinese trademark firms
Go to China Trademark Association website to find
their member firms (25K v. 500) www.cta.org.cn
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Trademark Filings 1990 - 2016
57,272
67,604
90,795
132,323
142,617
172,146
151,804
148,755
157,683
170,715
223,177 270,417
371,936 452,095
587,925 664,017
766,319 707,948 698,119
830,477
1,072,187
1,416,785
1,648,316
1,881,546
2,285,358
2,835,566
3,691,000
-
500,000
1,000,000
1,500,000
2,000,000
2,500,000
3,000,000
3,500,000
4,000,000
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Trademark Filings in 2016
Domestic, 3,526,827 ,
96%
Foreign, 112,347 , 3%
Madrid, 52,191 , 1%
Total:3,691,365 Trademark FilingsNo.1 in the world for 15 years
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13.2 millions Existing Registrationshttp://sbj.saic.gov.cn/sbcx/
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Headache Search
Blind Period up to 4 months
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High Rate of Rejection
2016
- Total filings: 3.691 M- Filings examined: 3 M- Rejected and partially rejected: 1.2 M
Overall Rejection Rate: 40% +
2017 filing expectation:4-5M
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What To Do
- File immediately, as soon as possible
- Chinese version is extremely important
- File more times for really important marks
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A jungle with bad faith filings
- An industry of professional trademark squatters, tracing from tier 1 to tier 3 brands of any industry, especially foreign brands
- To invalidate or cancel a registration is time and money consuming
- Bad faith alone is not a sufficient legal ground to oppose or invalidate, additional elements required(prior use, prior right, contractual relationship, well-known mark, etc.)
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Numbers from Beijing IP Court (from 2014.11-2017.3)
- 13558 trademark administrative litigations, 58% of all IP cases
- Cases (review on opposition and invalidation) involving bad faith filing - 30%132017/12/14 NTD Intellectual Property Attorneys
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Watch and Opposition Important
2016
- Total Oppositions filed:57274- Success rate: 30%+- Heavy workload and simple ruling
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Heavy Workload -CTMO examiner – 4 opposition cases/day , 80/monTRAB examiner – 6 review/invalidation cases/day , 120/monBeijing IP Court Judge – 1.5 cases/day, 200-300/year
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What To Do
Watch and Opposition Important
Total oppositions received in 2016 -
57274
Success rate: about 30% (18000)
Total review on opposition received in 2016 –
1280
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What To Do
- Copyright registration for device mark and
stylized mark - a super trademark
- Collect evidence of bad faith and bring that
to Court (22% chance to beat TRAB in Court)
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Take Away Tips- When facing bad faith filings
Be Careful – Don’t Underestimate the RiskChina is strengthening the protection on IP, punishment can be severe
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Situation SuggestionWithin 3 months of publication File opposition at CTMO
Already registered File invalidation at TRABand/or try anonymous purchase
Registered over 3 years File cancellation at CTMO for non-use
Large scale trademark squatting Government dialogue channel
Need to enter the market immediately Change your mark
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IP civil actions filed to Chinese courts (first instance)
3,148 3,996 3,967 3,617 4,076 4,765 5,019 6,921 10,003 10,951 15,302
24,719 35,185
53,848 51,351 59,493
66,690
86,989
6,233 6,906
8,460
12,991
19,815 23,272 21,362
24,168
27,185
4,074 4,422
5,785
7,819
9,680 9,195 9,648
11,607
12,357
0
20,000
40,000
60,000
80,000
100,000
120,000
140,000
160,000
2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
PatentTrademarkCopyrightOthers
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Recent Cases Awarded with High DamagesTrademark Infringement
• Qiang Gu Case (Beijing IP Court)
First Instance: 10 Million RMB (USD $1.5 Million) The highest damages awarded by Beijing IP Court in TM infringement case so far.
• John Deere Case (Beijing IP Court)
First Instance: 5 Million RMB (USD $0.75 Million) Fully support the plaintiff’s claims for damages
• New Balance Case (Guangdong High Court)First Instance: 98 Million (USD $14.5 Million) Second Instance:5 Million (USD $0.75 Million)
• New Balance Case (Suzhou intermediate Court)First Instance: 10 Million RMB (USD $1.5 Million)
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2017/12/14 20 NTD Intellectual Property Attorneys
Thank You !
Any Questions?
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NTD Intellectual Property Attorneys