ntd intellectual property

NTD INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
ISSUE 08, 2006
Main Contents:
Lacoste Sues Three Chinese Companies
for Trademark Infringement
On July 21, La Chemise Lacoste SA, manufacturer of the famous brand "crocodile," instituted a proceeding before the Beijing 1st Intermediate People's Court, in which it sued Guangzhou Tai'e Clothing Co. Ltd., Beijing Nianniangao Clothing Co. Ltd., and Beijing Chengxiang Trade Center Co. Ltd. for trademark infringement. The court has accepted Lacoste stated that, in early April of 2005, Beijing Nianniangao Clothing Co. Ltd. sold clothes manufactured by Guangzhou Tai'e Clothing Co. Ltd. in many department stores including Beijing Chengxiang Trade Center Co. Ltd. The clothes bore the figurative trademark of "crocodile" owned by the plaintiff. Lacoste held that the defendants had infringed its exclusive right to use the registered trademark and damaged its business reputation. The plaintiff requested the court to order that the three defendants stop the acts of infringement, compensate RMB 1,000,000 yuan, and eliminate the ill effect by making a statement in newspapers. Silk Street Market Takes Measures to
Prevent Sales of Counterfeit Goods
On August 7, the Silk Street Market published a series of measures to fight against sales of counterfeit goods in the market. The measures include: introducing famous brands and traditional Chinese brands into the market, removing 88 stores suspected of selling counterfeit goods out of the market, carrying out measures in favor of the storekeepers who sell goods of famous brands. NTD PATENT & TRADEMARK AGENCY LIMITED, 10th Floor, Block A, Investment Plaza, 27 Jinrongdajie, Beijing 100032, P.R. China Tel: 86-10-66211836 Fax: 86-10-66211845 E-mail: mailbox@chinantd.com Website: www.chinantd.com assistance before filing patent applications. Up to now, six stores of traditional Chinese brands have been opened in the Silk Street Market, According to the Measures, different amounts of including Quanjude, Tongrentang, Ruifuxiang, financial assistance will be provided to different Qianxiangyi, Neiliansheng and Shengxifu. applicants. The standards are as follows: for trial Altogether 480 out of the 1000 storekeepers in the enterprises of patents in Tianjin, RMB 1600 yuan for Silk Street Market have obtained authorization from an application for patent for invention and RMB 800 yuan for an application for patent for utility model; for the enterprises affiliated to local governments, This year, the Silk Street Market will cooperate with an industrial corporation, or a group corporation, some famous foreign brands to fight against RMB 1000 yuan for an application for patent for counterfeit goods. Any storekeeper who is invention and RMB 500 yuan for am application for authorized to sell goods of famous foreign brands in patent for utility model; for other enterprises or the Silk Street Market will be exempted from rent individual applicants, if applications are filed as a for one year. The storekeepers who run stores of service invention, RMB 500 for patent for invention traditional Chinese brands or sell goods of and RMB 300 for patent for utility model; for well-known brands or brand they created will be non-service applications, RMB 300 yuan for an given 10 to 30 percent reduction of the rent. application for patent for invention and RMB 150 yuan for an application for patent for utility model. Tianjin IPO Publishes Measures for Financial
Assistance to Patent Applications
RMB 5000 yuan will be provided for filing a patent Recently the Tianjin Intellectual Property Office published the "Measures for Financial Assistance to The Measures also stipulate that the enterprises Filing Patent Applications in 2006"(hereinafter whose products are listed into "2006 Catalog of Supported Patent Products in Tianjin" can apply for financial assistance according to the standards for According to the Measures, the scope of the the trial enterprises of patents. In the meantime, financial assistance will cover patent applications the total amount of financial assistance for an for inventions and utility models in China, patent enterprise shall be limited within RMB 200,000 applications for inventions in foreign countries, PCT yuan, and within RMB 3,000 yuan for an individual. applications, and patent for designs related to medical products food, healthcare products and Xi'an AIC Promotes Trademark
Information Inquiry System
An enterprise or individual can apply for financial On August 10, the Xi'an Administration for Industry assistance after filing a patent application, and for and Commerce (AIC) required all the AICs in Xi'an enterprises affiliated to local governments, to promote the trademark information inquiry industrial corporations, or group corporations, they system through which the public can find basic can report to the Tianjin IPO their annual plan for information related to registered trademarks, such patent applications and receive the financial as registration information, manufacturing NTD PATENT & TRADEMARK AGENCY LIMITED, 10th Floor, Block A, Investment Plaza, 27 Jinrongdajie, Beijing 100032, P.R. China Tel: 86-10-66211836 Fax: 86-10-66211845 E-mail: mailbox@chinantd.com Website: www.chinantd.com certificate of products and the qualification of investors occurs, and where there is some concerns distributor. The system is aimed at further of national economic security factors, transfer of strengthening the protection of registered actual control of the enterprises with Chinese trademarks. well-known trademarks and traditional brands, the involved party shall file an application to the Since April 2005, the Xincheng Branch of Xi'an AIC MOFCOM. However, prior to the Regulations, the has developed the trademark information inquiry examination and approval by MOFCOM was needed system and carried out the new supervision system only where the merging and acquisition exceeded in six large and medium sized wholesale markets. Up to now, the Xincheng Branch of Xi'an AIC has investigated and dealt with 417 trademark Moreover, since Chinese well-known trademarks infringement cases, and more than 7100 pieces of and traditional brands are part of the independent goods were seized, 6000 infringing representations intellectual property and are related to Chinese of registered trademarks were confiscated and traditional culture, the strengthening of protection 3500 pieces of goods without proof of legal source French Essilor Wins Trademark
MOFCOM to Implement New Measures
Infringement Case against Shanghai
for Supervision of China Well-known
Chengyang
Trademarks
In early 2006, Essilor International, a well-know The newly modified "Regulations for Merging and French optical company, and Shanghai Essilor Acquisition of Domestic Enterprises by Foreign Optical Co. Ltd. sued Shanghai Chengyang Optical Investors" (hereinafter referred to as the Co. Ltd. for fraudulently copying its trademark Regulations), issued by the Ministry of Commerce, before the Shanghai 1st Intermediate People's the State-owned Assets Supervision and Court. On August 15, the court held a trial on the Administration Commission, the State case and ruled that Chengyang shall stop infringing Administration of Taxation, the State Essilor's exclusive right to use the trademark. Administration for Industry and Commerce, the However, the court refused the plaintiff's request China Securities Regulatory Commission, and the for identifying its trademark as "Well-known State Administration of Foreign Exchange, will be Essilor International, with a 150-year history, is the The Regulations strengthen the examination on the largest manufacturer of optical products in the merging and acquisition of key industries, world. The market share of its polycarbonate enterprises with well-known trademarks and corrective lenses reaches one-third in the world. In traditional brands by foreign investors. 1999 and 2001, Essilor International registered the trademarks "依视路" and the figurative mark of an According to the Regulations, where there is any act eye in China, covering goods like eyeglasses, of merging and acquisition of domestic enterprises packaging box for eyeglasses and optical and actual control of such enterprises by foreign NTD PATENT & TRADEMARK AGENCY LIMITED, 10th Floor, Block A, Investment Plaza, 27 Jinrongdajie, Beijing 100032, P.R. China Tel: 86-10-66211836 Fax: 86-10-66211845 E-mail: mailbox@chinantd.com Website: www.chinantd.com products in contracts or forging patent document, In early 2006, some customers bought and using another's patent number in manufacture, polycarbonate corrective lenses bearing the sales, advertising or contract. The Guangzhou IPO trademark representation "Essilor Bell" ("依思路贝尔" will award RMB 300 yuan to each person who in Chinese) which was manufactured by Chengyang reports such acts. The fund for award will be Optical Co. Ltd. Essilor International requested the court to order that Chengyang stop the act of infringement and to identify " 依 视 路 " as a Beijing Zhongguancun Science Park
"Well-known Trademark" in China. Provides Financial Supports for Patent
Application
The court held that the pronunciation of "依思路贝尔 " was similar to "依视路," and that the figurative On August 21, ten parks under the authority of mark of "Essilor Bell" was also similar to the Zhongguancun Science Park signed cooperation figurative mark owned by Essilor. Thus the court agreements with ten patent agencies. In the future, ruled that Chengyang Optical Co. Ltd infringed when filing patent applications, the small and Essilor's exclusive right to use its trademark and medium-sized enterprises (SME) will obtain 50% should bear the liability of ceasing the act of financial support from the Zhongguancun Science According to the court, as the rights and interests of According to the Beijing Intellectual Property Office the plaintiff have been protected, it was not (IPO), the Beijing IPO and Zhongguancun Science necessary to identify the two registered trademarks Park will launch a project aiming at introducing 100 owned by the plaintiff as "Well-known Trademark." patent agencies to 1000 enterprises in the Zhongguancun Science Park. After signing Measures in Guangzhou to Award
Report of Passing-off Acts of Patents
Committee will provide 50% financial support – for Recently, to encourage the citizens to report filing patent applications, to encourage SMEs to file passing-off acts of patents, the Guangzhou Intellectual Property Office (IPO) published the "Measures for Awarding Report of Passing-off Acts Five Advertising Companies Sued for
of Patents"(hereinafter referred to as "the Using Pirated Software
Measures"), which will be implemented on In Shaoxing of Zhejiang Province, five advertising According to the Measures, any citizen or Intermediate People's Court by Corel Corporation, a organization can report the acts of passing-off of Canadian software company, for using pirated patents, such as passing off nonpatented products or products of invalid patents as patented products, publishing inaccurate advertisement of patented The software developed by Corel Corporation is products, fraudulent declaration of patented widely used by advertising companies to design and NTD PATENT & TRADEMARK AGENCY LIMITED, 10th Floor, Block A, Investment Plaza, 27 Jinrongdajie, Beijing 100032, P.R. China Tel: 86-10-66211836 Fax: 86-10-66211845 E-mail: mailbox@chinantd.com Website: www.chinantd.com make drawings. Corel Corporation held that the five Zhejiang Province seized 9000 counterfeit advertising companies infringed its copyright by representations of well-known vehicle trademarks, using the software without any authorization or like "Ferrari" and "BMW," which are declared export payment. Thus the plaintiff request that the defendants stop the acts of infringement, delete the pirated software, publish an apology on a When examining the exported goods, the officials newspaper, and compensate RMB 300,000 yuan. at Hangzhou Customs paid attention to the goods of "screws and plastic products" After opening the The defendants argued that, as they downloaded package of the goods, the officials found a total of the software on the Internet and were not aware 9000 counterfeit representations of well-known that it was pirated software, they shall be regarded vehicle trademarks, including 3000 of "Ferrari," as users in good faith. In addition, they could not 3000 of "MINI," and 3000 of "BMW." Criminals Arrested for Manufacturing and
Huoerguosi Customs Makes Investigations
Selling Counterfeit "Tamiflu"
into 563 Infringing Electronic Products
Recently, under the direction of the Ministry of On August 21, upon the request of the rightholders, Public Security, the Shanghai Public Security Huoerguosi Customs in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Bureau unearthed a case of manufacturing and Region put an infringement case concerning 563 selling counterfeit "Tamiflu" and seized more than electronic products on file and would make further semi-manufactured medicine and 46 tons of raw materials. Six criminal suspects were arrested. On August 10, it was reported that infringing electronic products were concealed in a batch of "Tamiflu" was a kind of medicine that can help shoes and clothes declared of export. The officials human beings to prevent bird flu. The patent right carefully examined the goods and seized 563 of "Tamiflu" was owned by F. Hoffmann-La Roche counterfeit electronic goods, including 470 DVD Ltd. In December 2005, Roche authorized Shanghai players and 93 color TV sets bearing the trademark Pharmaceutical Group to be the only manufacturer representations of SONY, Panasonic and LG. Officials at Huoerguosi Customs informed the In November 2005, the criminal gang, headed by rightholders about the infringing goods and Wang Xun, rented two workshops in Shanghai and detained the goods according to the applications by started the manufacture of counterfeit "Tamiflu." They sold counterfeit products to several provinces in China and some countries in Southeast Asia, and 9000 Counterfeit Representations of
made a profit of RMB 1.6 million yuan. Now relevant Famous Vehicle Trademarks Seized in
departments are trying to trace the counterfeit Hangzhou
On August 24, officials at Hangzhou Customs of NTD PATENT & TRADEMARK AGENCY LIMITED, 10th Floor, Block A, Investment Plaza, 27 Jinrongdajie, Beijing 100032, P.R. China Tel: 86-10-66211836 Fax: 86-10-66211845 E-mail: mailbox@chinantd.com Website: www.chinantd.com The Forbidden City Identified as China's
Well-known Trademark
Recently the Trademark Office under the State Administration for Industry and Commerce published the list of 62 "Well-known Trademarks" identified in the first half of 2006. The trademarks " 故 宫 " and " 紫 禁 城 "(the Chinese names of the Forbidden City), owned by the Palace Museum, were included in the list. They were the first well-known trademarks among all the World Cultural Heritage Projects in China. The two well-known trademarks cover the services of sightseeing, organization of exhibitions for cultural or educational purposes, and appraisal of works of art. NTD PATENT & TRADEMARK AGENCY LIMITED, 10th Floor, Block A, Investment Plaza, 27 Jinrongdajie, Beijing 100032, P.R. China Tel: 86-10-66211836 Fax: 86-10-66211845 E-mail: mailbox@chinantd.com Website: www.chinantd.com

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