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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:[email protected]
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:[email protected]
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
