Further to the award of punitive damages to Balanced Body (revisit our blog post here), we have seen a string of cases in the first half of 2020 where Chinese judges awarded punitive damages to trade mark owners for trade mark infringement. Guangzhou Redsun was awarded 50 Million RMB against its ex-employee Guangzhou Redsun has … Continue reading
New Balance, the US sports shoemaker, has had a tough time of it in the PRC IP courts over the last twenty years, in particular against Niu Ba Lun (China) Co., Ltd. and its predecessors (New Barlun), a serial Chinese copycat. A low point was perhaps in 2016, when the Guangdong Higher People’s Court had … Continue reading
Summary China continues to emerge as one of the most important intellectual property (IP) destinations for Australians, having overtaken the US and New Zealand as Australia’s predominant destination market for Australian trade marks filed overseas in 2011. With the China-Australia Free Trade Agreement (ChAFTA) coming into force last year, China is now Australia’s largest trading … Continue reading
Chinese sports manufacturer Fujian Tingfeilong Sports Goods Co. Ltd., recently launched a sports clothing and footwear brand under the name “Uncle Martian.” But for their unoriginal logo, the launch of the brand would not have otherwise captured media headlines. Photos from Uncle Martian’s launch went viral as the brand’s logo was revealed. Image source: Uncle … Continue reading
There has been ongoing uncertainty over whether brand owners who manufacture branded goods in China, but do not sell those products in China, could infringe a Chinese trade mark registration held by a third party in that country. A recent Supreme People’s Court (SPC) decision clarifies that applying a trade mark to goods in China … Continue reading