fn--China IPR SME Helpdesk Webinar - 25 nov 2015 2

Dealingwithtrademarkhijackingand'badfaith'registrationsinChina

Ms AlessandraChies25November2015

Welcometothewebinar

29th December2015

Alex Bayntun-LeesProject Executive

China IPR SME Helpdesk

Webinarinteractiontools

39th December2015

Snapshot:HelpdeskServices

49th December2015

Today’sSpeaker

Name:AlessandraChiesFirm: FERRANTEINTELLECTUALPROPERTYLocation:BeijingEmail:mailbox@ferrante.asia

Alessandra is Partner of FERRANTE INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY, a full service IntellectualProperty Law firm, fully licensed to operate in China. She is located in Beijing since2009, and has advised and assisted International companies on various aspects of IPProsecution and enforcement in China, including administrative, civil and criminalactions, customs border protection measures, assessment of intellectual propertyrights portfolios, designing IP protection and enforcement strategies.

525November2015

Agenda

625November2015

1. Howtominimizerisksoftrademarkhijacking

2. Whathappenifyoudon’thaveasolidtrademarkportfolio1. MichaelJordanvs.Qiaodan SportsCo.Ltd2. NewBalancevs.ZhouLelun3. AppleInc vsProviewTechnologyCo.Ltd.

3. Remediesagainstbad-faithapplicationsandtrademarkinfringements

PollQuestion1

Haveyouregisteredyourtrademark(s)inChina?

A. YesB. NoC. Notyet,butIwasplanningto

725November2015

Whybad-faithapplicationsaresocommoninChina?

825November2015

Sharedresponsibility

• 50%someaspectsofthesystem

1. StrictapplicationofFirsttoFilesystem2. Languagedifference3. StrictapplicationofNiceClassification

• 50%brandowner’slackofattention

FirsttoFilesystem:Timingisveryimportant

925November2015

Atrademarkisgrantedtothepartythatfilesitfirst,not thepartythatuseditfirst

Registeryourrightsassoonaspossible,evenifyouarenotselling/producingetc inChinajustyet

Trademarksquattersgototradefairs,travel,browseinternet,watchforeign films,readmagazineetc.

Re-brand?

NoRegistration=Noprotection

InChina,youcangetprotectionforyourtrademarkonlyifitisregistered(inChina)

Note:ForHongKong,Taiwan,Macao,youneedaseparateregistrations

102th December2015

Costandtimingfortrademarkregistration

• National ApplicationorWIPO application

• The official fees (recently reduced) are CNY 600 (EUR 90), per trade markper class per 10 type of products/services

• It takes about 1 year for a trade mark to be registered

1125November2015

Sometips:Part1

• Thetrademarkownercanbeanindividual,noneedofwaitingtohaveacompanyestablished

• Donotagreeforyouragent/distributortoregisteryourtrademark

• ForeignCompanies/individualsmustuseaChineseTrademarkAgents/LawFirm

• OnlyusereputableTrademarkAgents/Lawfirm

1225November2015

Sometips:Part2

• In China, trademarks shall be used exactly as registered

• The trade mark can be cancelled if it is not used for 3 years from theregistration

• For enforcing an international trade mark extended to China, a furtherdocument is required: the confirmation certificate

• ProtectionstartsfromtheregistrationdateinChina

1325November2015

PollQuestion2

HaveyouregisteredtheChineseversionofyourTrademarksinChina?

A. YesB. Notyet,butIwasplanningtoC. No,Ididn’tknowitwasimportanttodoso

1425November2015

TheChineseversionofyourtrademarkisaveryimportanttool:giveittheattentionitdeserves

ChineseconsumerwillmostlyrefertoyourbrandusingtheChinesetrademark

Ifyoudonotchooseatransliteration/translationtheconsumerswillchooseitforyou(andsometimeitisabadone….)

SanJiaoMa’(三脚马)TheThree-LeggedHorse

1518March2015

Languagedifferences:registertheChineseversionofyourTrademark

1625November2015

Ifyoudonotregisteratransliteration/translationsomeoneelsewillhijackit

1. Translation:ifthetrademarkasadistinctivemeaning2. Phonetictranslation(transliteration):justreproducing thesound, withno

particularmeaning (butchoose“positive”characters)3. Combineliteralmeaningandsound

TRANSLATIONS TRANSLITERATIONS MEANING+ SOUND

微软 “WeiRuan” =Micro+soft

苹果 “PingGuo”=Apple

威斯汀 “WeiSiTing” =powerful, this,sand

哈根达斯 “HaGenDaSi”=laugh, root,reach,this

“Ke KouKe Le”=make themouthhappy

百事可乐 “bai shi ke le”everythingmakesyouhappy

赛百味 “sai bai wei”=betterthanhundredsflavors

1725November2015

NewBalancevs.ZhouLelun

• NewBalance(NB)used“新百伦” [XinBaiLun],withoutregisteringit• In1999and2004,MrZhouLeLun,appliedforthetrademark“百论”[Bai

Lun]“新百伦” [XinBaiLun]anddevelopedalocalbusiness• NBfiledoppositionagainst“新百伦” butlost(firsttofileprinciple)• NBkeptusing“新百伦” topromoteitsproducts• MrZhou suedNBandwonbecausehewastheownerofthe“新百伦”

NewBalancewassentencedtopay98millionRMB (about14millionEUR)

1825November2015

The‘Chinese’NiceClassification;strictapplicationofclass/subclassdivision

ChinaTrademarkOffice

• strictlyappliesdivisionbetweendifferentclasses(butsometimesgoods/servicesaresimilaralsoindifferentclasses)

• strictlyappliesdivisionamongdifferentsubclasseswithinthesameclass(butgoods/servicesareverysimilarwithinthesameclass)

1925November2015

Example:Class32and33

2025November2015

Example:Class25subclasses

2125November2015

Betterbesafethansorry

• Consider registration in other classes/subclasses to avoid that yourtrademark can be used for similar products/services by anothercompany

• Entrust a professionalFirmknowledgeable of the China system

2225November2015

ToSumup:

• Lateregistration=Hijackingforcoreproducts/services(alsoofChinesetrademark)

• RegistrationnotinallClassesofinterest=Hijackingforconnectedproducts/services(alsoofChinesetrademark)

• RegistrationinnotallSub-Classesofinterest=Hijackingforverysimilarproducts/services(alsoofChinesetrademark)

Increasingissue:Misspelledtrademarkforsimilar/identicalproducts/services

2318March2015

Monitorthemarket(alsoonline)andCTMOGazette

2425November2015

Whatifsomeonehasapplied/registeredasimilar/identicaltrademark?

2525November2015

Oppositions– ChinaTrademarkOffice(CTMO)- fornotyetregisteredmarks

Invalidationactions– TrademarkReviewandAdjudicationBoard- TRAB(absoluteandrelativegrounds)

CancellationActions(CTMO)

- Non-use- Genericwording

PollQuestion3

Ifyouwalkbythisstore,whichproductdoyouthinkitwouldsell?

A. ProductsaffiliatedwithTigerWoods

B.ProductsaffiliatedwithMichaelJordan

c.Ithinkitisanindependentbrand

2625November2015

MichaelJordanvs.Qiaodan SportsCo.Ltd

2725November2015

Graphic from www.therealjordan.com

Whatifsomeoneisinfringingmy(registeredinChina)trademark?

2825November2015

AdministrativeEnforcement CivilLawsuits

CriminalEnforcement

Warning:Double-edgeswordofIPProtection

Ifyouuseatrademarkthatbelongstoathirdparty,seriousactionscanbestartedagainstyoubytherightowner

2925November2015

AppleInc vsProviewTechnologyCo.Ltd.

3025November2015Imagefromhttp://www.theguardian.com/technology/2012/feb/14/ipad-trademark-row-chinese-company

WhathappenedintheIpad Case

3125November2015

• Proview International Holdings Ltd through itssubsidiaries filed the Ipad trade mark in 2000

• Apple bought the rights to the iPad trade markfrom Proview Taiwan in 2009, for about$55,000

• Shenzhen Proview owned the trade mark inChina

• Shenzhen Proview filed a trade markinfringement case

• Some Ipad were seized in Apple store byChinese Authorities

• Amazon removed them from sale• Apple settled for 60 Million USD for obtaining

the Ipad trade mark

TheprotectionofyourIPRightsisanimportantJourney

3225November2015

Graphicfrom:www.ohim.com

Take-awayMessages

• Register your trademark as soon aspossible

• Choose and register a Chineseversion of your trademark

• Always consult a professional firmknowledgeable of the system

3325November2015

Q&A

Name:AlessandraChiesFirm:FERRANTEINTELLECTUALPROPERTYEmail:mailbox@ferrante.asia

3425November2015

Keepyourquestionscoming!

Snapshot:HelpdeskServices

359th December2015

PLAYtheSeriousGame

• Interactivetrainingandlearningtool• Commonbusinessscenariosto

experiencedoingbusiness,protectingandenforcingIPinChina

369th December2015

Availableonline at:http://www.chinaiprhelpdesk.eu/en/serious-game/

Thankyou

379th December2015