PRC’s Trademark Law was first enacted in 1982 with two amendments made in 1993 and 2001 respectively. In 2003, PRC government started the third amendment of Trademark Law in response to the public concern and global trend. On the 30th of August, 2013 the Third Amendment to the Chinese Trademark Law was approved by the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress and is to be implemented on the 1st of May, 2014.
Up to 2012, the total number of the trademark applications in PRC was 11.4 million, with 7.6 million registrations and among which 6.4 million are valid registrations, which tops China over other countries.
The highlights of the amended Trademark Laws are as follows:
- To facilitate the procedure of trademark application in China
-Accept “sound” trademark application;
-Allow single application containing multiple-class;
-Accept official electronic filing for trademark applications;
-Set up statutory time-limit for trademark examinations by the Chinese Trademark Office (CTMO) and the Trademark Review and Adjudication Board (TRAB);
-Increase the procedure for communications between CTMO and the applicant;
-Restrict the party who could file an opposition against a trademark from “any person” to “the owner of a prior right or an interested party”. - To maintain fair marketing order
-Stipulate in the Trademark Law that only in the examination proceedings of a certain case by CTMO, TRAB or the Supreme People Court should a “well-known mark” be recognized and that the term “well-known mark” shall not be used in advertising, exhibition or any other business activities;
-Stipulate that the act of using another person’s (unregistered) well-known mark or registered mark as the trade name so as to lead public into confusion be deemed as an act of unfair competition;
-Expressly prohibit the pre-empting application act of any person who being aware of the existence of a trademark prior used by another person due to business relationship;
-Stipulate that the infringer shall not be held reliable for compensation if the trademark owner fails to prove its use of the mark for the past three years;
-Stipulate that the trademark agencies shall keep confidential of the appointer’s trade secret and should not represent a pre-empting trademark application. - To strengthen the protection of the trademark rights
-Stipulate that any act performed by a person who purposely renders facilitation conditions to the infringer to assist the infringement of a trademark right shall be deemed as a trademark infringement;
-Impose heavier penalties on the person who conducts trademark infringement activities more than twice (including twice) within five years;
-Impose punitive damages on the person who conducts severe trademark infringement on a malicious basis;
-Invest People’s Court with the power to order the infringer to submit the books or statements relevant to the trademark infringement activities;
-Raise the cap of statutory damage from RMB 0.5 million to RMB 3 million.
