Since 2013, China has gradually introduced the concept of punitive damages in the amendments to several laws on intellectual property rights, in which the elements of punitive damages were also stipulated, namely the infringement has to be “intentional” or “malicious”
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Proactive Trademark Registration Strategy Can Prevent Costly Customs Issues in China


Although it is not strictly necessary to file for a trade mark registration before using a mark, there are significant advantages to securing trademark protection, particularly in a company’s primary markets. Amongst other benefits, a trademark registration gives the owner…
Emerging e-commerce trends in China and the potential impact on brands in a global marketplace


Background
E-commerce has brought many opportunities for brands to expand their footprint and tap into global markets. However, it has also given rise to a myriad of intellectual property (IP) infringement issues for companies, particularly for trade mark infringement and…
Revisions to PRC Medical Devices Regulations


The PRC Regulations on the Supervision and Administration of Medical Devices (“Regulations”) have recently been amended and promulgated by the State Council. The new Regulations, which will be effective from 1st June 2021, provide some important changes of…
CNIPA responds to a pandemic of COVID-related TM Applications
Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, numerous Chinese trademark squatters have surfaced with applications for marks closely related to the pandemic, such as “雷神山” (“Lei-Shen-Shan” in Chinese, which is a hospital built in response to the pandemic), “火神山” (“Huo-Shen-Shan”…
Combating the unsustainable rise of patent application numbers in the PRC


In the last decade there has been an exponential increase in the amount of patent filing originating from China, which, according to a recently published USPTO report, can be attributed to certain non-market factors including subsidies and targets set…
2020 Year in Review – PRC Patent Laws and Practices


2020 was a year of change and challenge. This holds true not only for the way we live and work, but also in relation to the patent laws and practices in the People’s Republic of China (“PRC”). In the last…
Michael Jordan deserves an apology from Qiaodan Sports for infringing his name rights for over 20 years


According to the Shanghai Xinhua News Agency, the Shanghai Second Intermediate People’s Court handed down a first instance decision on 30 December 2020 in favour of Michael Jordan against Qiaodan Sports Company and Bairen Trading Company (both Chinese local companies)…
China’s 2020 Patent Law Reform and Patent Linkage System


Patent Law Reform
We discussed the second draft of proposed amendments to the People’s Republic of China (“PRC”) Patent Law in our previous blog post here. Since then, on 17 October 2020 the PRC National People’s Congress…
China quietly updates its Copyright Law


On 11 November 2020, the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress passed the amendments to the China Copyright Law (the Amendments), which will take effect on 1 June 2021. This is the third time the Copyright Law has…