Guidelines of the High Court of Tianjin Municipality on the Adjudication of Cases of Trademark Infringement Disputes
2018-06-17 1048
- Area of Law: Trademark
- Level of Authority: Local Judicial Documents
- Date issued:03-07-2016
- Effective Date:03-07-2016
- Status: Effective
- Issuing Authority: Other Institutions of Tianjin Municipality
Notice of the Higher
People's Court of Beijing Municipality on Formulating and Issuing the
Guidelines of the High People's Court of Tianjin Municipality on the
Adjudication of Cases of Trademark Infringement Disputes
(March 7, 2016)
To cope with the ever-increasing cases involving trademark infringement
disputes, further improve the trial of the cases involving trademark
infringement disputes, raise the level of such trials, advance the work of the
judicial standardization, and in particular, to clarify the mind for the trial
of the cases involving trademark infringement disputes and summarize the
methods for the judgement on the trademark infringements, the Higher People's
Court of Tianjin Municipality, after the discussion and adoption by the
judicial committee, formulated and distributed the Guidelines on the
Adjudication of Cases of Trademark Infringement Disputes. The Guidelines lay
down detailed provisions on the mind for the trial, the litigation eligibility
status of plaintiffs, the boundary and state of the right to the trademark, the
judgement on the trademark infringements, the acts that infringe upon the
trademark, the conflict of rights concerning commercial logos, defenses, civil
liabilities and well-known trademarks, among others, which are conducive to the
unification of the standards for the adjudication of cases of the same kind.
(annex: Guidelines on the Adjudication of Cases of Trademark Infringement
Disputes)
Guidelines of the High People's Court of Tianjin Municipality on the Adjudication
of Cases of Trademark Infringement Disputes(Text)
1. Lines of thinking in adjudicating a case
(1) To examine the eligibility of the plaintiff to file the action;
(2) To examine the contents of the right to exclusive use of the registered
trademark as involved in the case at hand;
(3) To examine the visibility and usage of the registered trademark involved in
the case at hand;
(4) To examine whether the defendant has committed infringing acts;
(5) To examine whether the defendant's grounds for defense are established; and
(6) To determine the defendant's liability for infringement.
2. Eligibility of a plaintiff to file an action
The plaintiffs eligible to file a case of trademark infringement disputes shall
include the registrant of the relevant trademark, interested parties, and the
transferee to the relevant trademark transfer contract.
a. Trademark registrant
A trademark registrant shall refer to the right holder as recorded on a
trademark registration certificate.
b. Interested parties
Interested parties shall include the licensees under a registered trademark
licensing contract, the lawful successors to the property rights of a
registered trademark, etc. In the event of infringement upon the right to
exclusive use of a registered trademark, the licensee under a sole licensing
contract (under which the licensor concerned is also not allowed to use the
registered trademark) may bring a lawsuit to the competent people's court; the
licensee under an exclusive licensing contract may bring a lawsuit jointly with
the trademark registrant, and may bring a lawsuit independently if the
trademark registrant decides not to file a lawsuit; and, the licensee under a
general licensing contract may file a lawsuit with express authorization by the
trademark registrant.
c. Transferee to a trademark transfer contract
To transfer a registered trademark, the transferor and the transferee concerned
shall sign a transfer agreement and jointly apply to the Trademark Office.
After the transfer of the registered trademark is approved and announced, the
transferee shall be entitled to the right to exclusive use of the registered
trademark with effect from the date of announcement. Where the alleged
infringing acts last until after the date of announcement on the approval of
the transfer of the registered trademark, the transferee shall be entitled to
bring a lawsuit to the competent people's court against the alleged infringing
acts that are committed after the date of announcement.
3. Scope and status of trademark rights
(1) Scope of rights
The right to exclusive use of registered trademarks shall mean that the right
holder of a registered trademark shall be entitled to use a trademark
registered upon approval on approved goods, and to prohibit others from using
the same or similar trademarks on the same or similar goods without licensing
as well as from committing other acts of infringing upon the rights of the
registered trademark.
(2) Status of rights
a. The protected symbol of a registered trademark shall be subject to the
trademark symbol specified on the relevant trademark registration certificate;
b. The categories of approved goods shall be subject to the categories and
items specified on the relevant trademark registration certificate; and
c. A protected registered trademark shall be within its validity period, and
the trademark registrant and interested parties shall provide the relevant
trademark registration certificate and renewal certificate.
4. Determining whether trademark infringement is constituted
In determining whether trademark infringement is constituted, a people's court
shall generally focus on examining whether the use of the alleged infringing
mark constitutes the use of a trademark, whether a mark the same as or similar
to a registered trademark symbol is used on goods or services the same as or
similar to those for which the use of the registered trademark is approved, and
whether the relevant public may be easily confused.
(1) Determining whether the use of a trademark is constituted
Trademark use shall refer to the activities whereby a trademark is used on
goods, the packaging or containers and transaction instruments of goods, or a
trademark is used for advertising campaigns, during exhibitions and in other
commercial activities, for the purpose of identifying the sources of goods.
a. The use of a trademark for goods shall include:
(a) Using a trademark on goods, and the packaging or containers and transaction
instruments of goods;
(b) Using a trademark for advertising campaigns and during exhibitions;
(c) Using a trademark on newspapers, magazines, television, the Internet and
other media, for the purpose of identifying the sources of goods; and
(d) Making other use of a trademark to identify the sources of goods.
b. The use of a service mark shall include:
(a) Indicating a service mark within and outside service premises;
(b) Indicating a service mark on the items used for the purpose of providing
services;
(c) Indicating a service mark on the documents and materials related to
services;
(d) Indicating a service mark on newspapers, magazines, television, the
Internet and other media; and
(e) Indicating a service mark during other commercial activities.
(2) Determining whether the same or similar goods or services are involved
a. The same goods or services shall mean that the categories of goods or
services for which the use of a registered trademark is approved are the same
as the categories of goods or services on which the alleged infringing mark is
used.
b. Similar goods shall refer to the goods that are the same as each other in
terms of functions, purposes, production departments, sales channels, targeted
consumers, etc., or goods for which the relevant public generally considers as
having a specific link.
Similar services shall refer to the services that are the same as each other in
terms of purposes, contents, methods, recipients, etc., or services for which
the relevant public generally considers as having a specific link.
Similar goods and services shall mean that there is a specific link between the
goods and the services.
c. Methods to determine whether similar goods or services are involved
In judging whether the goods or services involved are similar, a people's court
shall comprehensively judge whether the goods or services have a specific link
based on the general level of awareness of the relevant public of the goods or
services at the time of infringement and from the perspectives of the
functions, purposes, production departments, sales channels and targeted
consumers of the goods, the purposes, contents, methods and recipients of the
services and other relevant factors. The International Classification of Goods
and Services for the Purposes of the Registration of Marks and the Distinction
Table for Similar Goods and Services may be relied upon as references in
judging whether similar goods or services are involved.
(3) Determining whether trademark symbols are the same or similar
a. The same trademark symbols
Where the trademark symbols concerned are the same as each other, it shall mean
that when an alleged infringing trademark symbol is compared against the symbol
of a registered trademark, both symbols basically have no difference in terms
of visual effect.
Where the text trademark symbols concerned are the same, it shall mean that the
languages used in the two trademark symbols are the same, and that the
composition and order of the texts in the two trademark symbols are identical,
or the font, capitalization or text arrangement of the texts in the two
trademark symbols make them only differ slightly.
Where the graphic trademark symbols concerned are the same, it shall mean that
the graphics of the two trademark symbols basically have no difference in terms
of visual effect.
Where the combination trademark symbols concerned are the same, it shall mean
that the composition of texts, the outer appearance of graphics and their
arrangements and combinations in the two trademark symbols are the same, as a
result of which the two trademark symbols basically have no difference in terms
of call signs and overall visual effect.
b. Similar trademark symbols
Where the trademark symbols concerned are similar, it shall mean that when an
alleged infringing trademark symbol is compared against the symbol of a registered
trademark, their overall structures have no substantive difference in terms of
the font, pronunciations and meanings of texts, or the composition and color of
graphics, or the combination of their various elements, or their
three-dimensional shapes or color combinations are similar.
c. Determining whether trademark symbols are the same or similar
(a) Parties to make such judgment
The relevant public shall refer to the consumers who are related to the goods
or services on which the symbol of a registered trademark is used and business
operators that are closely related to the marketing of the aforesaid goods or
services.
(b) Criteria adopted in making such judgment
In judging whether two trademark symbols are the same as or similar to each
other, the ordinary attention of the relevant public shall be adopted as the
criterion. Ordinary attention shall refer to the usual, ordinary and general
attention of the majority of the relevant public.
(c) Methods for making such judgment
In judging whether two trademark symbols are the same as or similar to each
other, it is imperative to make an overall comparison of the trademark symbols
and a comparison of the main parts of the trademark symbols under the
conditions where the objects under comparison are isolated from each other.
Isolated comparison, also known as isolated observation and comparison, shall
mean that the symbol of a registered trademark and the symbol of an alleged
infringing trademark are placed in different locations for observation and comparison
at different times. Isolated comparison is a basic comparison method, and shall
be adopted for both overall comparison and comparison of main parts.
Overall comparison, also known as overall observation and comparison, shall
mean that a trademark symbol is observed as a whole rather than having its
individual constituent elements compared separately.
Comparison of main parts, also known as the observation and comparison of main
parts, shall mean that the parts of a trademark symbol that play a major role
in identification are singled out for focused comparison and contrast.
Comparison of main parts complements overall comparison.
(d) Judging similarity
① Judging the similarity of text trademark symbols
In judging the similarity of text trademark symbols, the pronunciations and
meanings of the texts and the outer appearance of the shapes formed by the
texts shall be taken as constituent elements for overall comparison.
Under any of the following circumstances, two text trademark symbols may generally
be considered as similar to each other:
A. The fonts used for the texts are similar, and the pronunciations of the
texts are the same or similar;
B. The texts are the same in composition, and only differ in terms of font,
pronunciation or the order of arrangement;
C. The texts consist of three or more Chinese characters arranged in the same
order, and the texts have no overall meaning or no significant difference in
meaning, apart from the differences in individual Chinese characters;
D. The meanings of the texts are the same or similar;
E. The texts are formed by simply repeating certain words or phrases;
F. Compared to the text of the registered trademark, only information
indicating the quality, main raw materials, functions, purposes, weight,
quantity or other characteristics or production, sales or use premises of the
goods, or the generic names and models of the approved goods are added to the
text of the alleged infringing trademark symbol; or
G. Compared to the text of the registered trademark, only texts with weaker
distinctiveness are added to or deleted from the alleged infringing trademark
symbol, and the main parts with stronger distinctiveness are the same or
similar.
② Judging the similarity of graphic trademark symbols
In judging the similarity of graphic trademark symbols, it is imperative to
make an overall comparison by taking the outer appearance of the graphics as a
constituent element. The comparison of the outer appearance of graphics shall
be conducted from the composition and design of the graphics, and the two
graphic trademark symbols generally may be determined as similar if there is no
substantive difference in their overall visual effects.
Under any of the following circumstances, two graphic trademark symbols may generally
be considered as similar to each other:
A. The composition and overall outer appearance of the graphics are not
substantively different in terms of visual effect, thus constituting
similarity; or
B. The graphic trademark symbols contain the entirety of graphic trademarks of
a certain visibility or strong distinctiveness.
③ Judging the similarity of combination trademark symbols
In judging the similarity of combination trademark symbols, it is imperative to
take two or more elements of the texts, graphics, alphabetic letters, numerals,
three-dimensional marks or color combinations that comprise the trademark
symbols as a whole for comparison during which attention shall be paid not only
to overall observation but also various individual components. Combination
trademark symbols may generally be considered as similar to each other if the
overall visual effect observed has no substantive difference.
(4) Determining whether confusion is constituted
a. The likelihood of causing confusion
Pursuant to Item (2) of Article 57 of the Trademark Law, using a trademark
symbol that is similar to a registered trademark symbol on the same goods, or
using a trademark symbol that is the same as or similar to the registered
trademark symbol on similar goods, without the licensing of the registrant of
the registered trademark, which is likely to cause confusion, shall constitute
infringement on the right to exclusive use of the registered trademark.
"Likely to cause confusion" shall refer to the likelihood of causing
confusion rather than actual confusion. It shall mean that the relevant public
is likely to misidentify the sources of the goods or wrongly believe that the
sources of the goods have a specific link to the goods bearing the plaintiff's
registered trademark, including confusion of sources and confusion of
affiliation.
Confusion of sources shall mean that a defendant uses a trademark symbol the
same as or similar to the plaintiff's registered trademark on the same or
similar goods or services, which is sufficient to make the relevant public
believe that such goods or services are from the goods or services identified
by the plaintiff's registered trademark.
Confusion of affiliation shall mean that a defendant uses a trademark symbol
the same as or similar to the plaintiff's registered trademark on the same or
similar goods or services, which is sufficient to make the relevant public
believe that the defendant and the plaintiff have a close commercial
relationship.
b. Methods for making such judgment
The following factors may be considered in judging whether confusion is caused
between a registered trademark and an alleged infringing trademark:
(a) The distinctiveness and visibility of the registered trademark;
(b) The subjective intent of the alleged infringer;
(c) The functions, purposes, prices, quality, etc. of the goods involved in the
case at hand;
(d) The situations on the actual use of the alleged infringing trademark
symbol;
(e) Evidence of actual confusion; and
(f) Other circumstances likely to cause confusion.
5. Acts of trademark infringement
(1) Using a trademark that is the same as a registered trademark on the same
goods without the licensing of the registrant of the registered trademark;
(2) Using a trademark that is similar to a registered trademark on the same
goods, or using a trademark that is the same as or similar to the registered
trademark on similar goods, without the licensing of the registrant of the
registered trademark, which is likely to cause confusion;
(3) Changing a registered trademark without the consent of the registrant of
the registered trademark, and putting the goods bearing the changed trademark
into the market again;
(4) Using texts that are the same as or similar to another party's registered
trademark as an enterprise trade name on the same or similar goods in an
eye-catching manner, which is likely to cause misidentification by the relevant
public;
(5) Reproducing, imitating or translating the well-known trademark registered
by another party or the main parts thereof for use as a trademark on goods that
are not the same as or similar to the goods approved for the well-known
trademark to mislead the public, resulting in possible damage to the interest
of the registrant of the well-known trademark;
(6) Registering texts that are the same as or similar to another party's
registered trademark as a domain name, and engaging in the e-commerce of the
transaction of relevant goods via the domain name, which is likely to cause
misidentification by the relevant public;
(7) Selling goods that infringe upon others' rights to exclusive use of
registered trademarks;
(8) Forging or engaging in unauthorized manufacturing of another party's
registered trademark symbol, or selling registered trademark symbols that are
forged or manufactured without authorization; and
(9) Intentionally providing convenience for infringement on others' rights to
exclusive use of trademarks to help others commit infringement on the rights to
exclusive use of trademarks. The provision of warehousing services,
transportation, mailing services, printing services, concealment, business
premises, online product transaction platforms, etc. for infringement upon
others' rights to exclusive use of trademarks shall belong to the provision of
convenience.
6. Conflict of rights for commercial identifiers
Commercial identifiers shall refer to identifiers that are capable of
identifying or distinguishing goods, business parties or business operations
during commercial activities, including trademarks, trade names and domain
names.
(1) Basic principles for resolving conflict of rights for commercial
identifiers:
a. The principle of good faith;
b. The principle of protecting prior rights; and
c. The principle of preventing market confusion.
(2) Conflict between the right to exclusive use of registered trademarks and
the right of enterprise names
a. Using texts that are the same as or similar to another party's registered
trademark as an enterprise trade name on the same or similar goods or services
in an eye-catching manner, which is likely to cause misidentification by the
relevant public, shall belong to acts that infringe upon the right to exclusive
use of the registered trademark.
b. Using another party's registered trademark or unregistered well-known
trademark as the trade name in an enterprise name to mislead the public shall
be dealt with pursuant to the Anti-unfair Competition Law if such use
constitutes acts of unfair competition.
(3) Conflict between the right to exclusive use of registered trademarks and
domain names
Registering texts that are the same as or similar to another party's registered
trademark as a domain name, and engaging in the e-commerce of the transaction
of relevant goods via the domain name, which is likely to cause misidentification
by the relevant public, shall belong to acts that infringe upon the right to
exclusive use of the registered trademark.
(4) Conflict of rights caused by historical reasons
As regards a case of conflict between a registered trademark and an enterprise
name that involves a specific historical background, the relevant people's
court shall make a fair and reasonable judgment based on the specific
circumstances of the case, by taking into comprehensive consideration the
history of the formation of the trademark and the enterprise name, the reasons
that give rise to the conflict, the contribution respectively made by the
parties concerned to the trademark and the enterprise name, the subjective
intent in using the trademark and the enterprise name and the actual conditions
of use, and other factors, and according to the principle of good faith, the
principle of protecting prior rights and the principle of preventing market
confusion.
7. Grounds for defense
(1) Defense on the ground of fair use
a. The holder of the right to exclusive use of a registered trademark shall not
be entitled to prohibit others from fair use of the generic names, graphics or
models of a product, or information directly indicating the quality, main raw
materials, functions, purposes, weight, quantity or other features of the
product, or the names of geographical locations as contained in the registered
trademark.
b. The holder of the right to exclusive use of a registered trademark that is a
three-dimensional symbol shall not be entitled to prohibit others from fair use
of the forms shaped by the inherent nature of a product, product forms
necessary for achieving technological effects or forms that bring substantive
value to the product as contained in the registered trademark.
c. Where before a trademark registrant applies for registration of the relevant
trademark, another party has used ahead of the trademark registrant a trademark
that is of certain influence and is the same as or similar to the registered
trademark on the same or similar goods, the holder of the right to exclusive
use of the registered trademark shall not be entitled to prohibit the said
party from continuing to use the trademark within the original scope of use,
but may require the latter to add suitable identifiers for distinguishing
purposes.
(2) Grounds for defense of non-compensation for infringement
a. Defense on the ground that a registered trademark is not used
Where the holder of the right to exclusive use of a registered trademark claims
for compensation, and the alleged infringer raises defense that the said holder
has never used the registered trademark, the relevant people's court may
require the right holder to furnish evidence of its actual use of the
registered trademark during the three years prior to the lawsuit. The alleged
infringer shall not be liable for compensation if the said right holder is
neither able to prove its actual use of the registered trademark during the
three years prior to the lawsuit, nor able to prove other losses suffered as a
result of the infringement.
b. Defense on the ground of legitimate sources
A party that unknowingly sells goods that infringe upon another party's right
to exclusive use of a registered trademark is not liable for compensation if
the party can prove that it has obtained the goods by legitimate means and is
able to provide information on the suppliers of the goods.
Conditions to substantiate a seller's defense on the ground of legitimate
sources are as follows:
(a) In determining whether the seller knows that the goods it sells infringe
upon the right to exclusive use of a registered trademark, the following
factors may be considered:
① The visibility of the registered trademark;
② The business scale of the seller; and
③ The purchase and selling prices of the goods under sales.
(b) In determining whether the seller has obtained the goods by legitimate
means, the following factors may be considered:
① There are purchase contracts signed by and between the seller
and the suppliers, and such contracts have been verified upon investigation as
to have been truthfully performed;
② There are legitimate purchase invoices, and the matters
recorded on the invoices correspond to the goods involved in the case at hand;
③ There are lists of supply of goods and payment receipts stamped
with the legitimate signatures and seals of the suppliers, and such lists and
receipts have been verified as true or acknowledged by the suppliers;
④ The goods are obtained with reasonable consideration; and
⑤ There are other circumstances that serve to prove that the
goods involved in the case at hand are obtained by legitimate means.
(c) Providing information on the suppliers of the goods
The seller shall explain the name or enterprise name, address, contact details
and other verifiable information of each supplier involved.
8. Civil liabilities
In adjudicating a case of disputes over infringement upon the right to
exclusive use of registered trademarks, the competent people's court may,
pursuant to the law and according to the actual circumstances of the case at
hand, render a judgment to order the infringer to bear civil liabilities such
as ceasing infringement, compensating for losses, eliminating ill effects,
etc., and may also make decisions on civil sanctions such as imposing fines,
confiscating infringing goods, forged trademark symbols, and the materials,
tools, equipment and other assets specifically for the production of infringing
goods, etc. The amount of fines may be determined by reference to the Implementing
Regulations of the Trademark Law of the People's Republic of China.
(1) Ceasing infringement
a. Under normal circumstances, a people's court shall render a judgment to
order the infringer to bear the liability for ceasing infringement in the following
specific forms:
(a) To cease acts that infringe upon the plaintiff's right to exclusive use of
the registered trademark concerned; and
(b) If infringement is constituted as a result of the prominent use of a
registered trademark in an enterprise name, and a judgment ordering the
infringer to standardize its use of enterprise names is sufficient to stop the
infringement, the people's court may render a judgment that the infringer may
not use the registered trademark in an eye-catching manner or that the
infringer shall standardize its use of enterprise names.
b. Exceptions
If a judgment ordering the infringer to cease infringement will undermine
public interests or cause major imbalance of interests between the parties
concerned, or if such a judgment, even if rendered, is unenforceable in
practice, the competent people's court may decide not to render a judgment on
ceasing infringement, and instead appropriately increase the amount of civil
compensation.
(2) Compensating for losses
Pursuant to Paragraph 1 of Article 63 of the Trademark Law, the amount of
compensation for infringement on the right to exclusive use of a trademark
shall be determined according to the actual loss suffered by the right holder
as a result of the infringement, or may be determined according to the profits
gained by the infringer from the infringement if the actual loss is difficult
to determine, or may be reasonably determined by reference to the multiples of
the trademark royalties if both the loss of the right holder and the gains of
the infringer are difficult to determine. Where an infringer maliciously
infringes upon another party's right to exclusive use of a trademark and falls
under grave circumstances, the amount of compensation may be determined as not
less than one time but not more than three times the amount calculated
according to the foregoing methods. The amount of compensation shall include
the reasonable expenses incurred by the right holder for stopping the
infringement.
a. The amount of loss suffered by the right holder
The amount of loss suffered by the right holder may be calculated according to
the product of the sales volume of the goods bearing the registered trademark
that is reduced as a result of the infringement or the sales volume of the
infringing goods and the unit profit of the goods bearing the registered
trademark.
b. The amount of profits gained by the infringer
The amount of profits gained by the infringer may be calculated according to
the product of the sales volume of the infringing goods and the unit profit
thereof. Where the unit profit of infringing products cannot be ascertained,
the unit profit of the goods bearing the registered trademark shall be adopted
in calculation.
c. Determining the amount of royalties of the registered trademark
The amount of royalties of the registered trademark may be determined according
to the amount of royalties recorded in the trademark licensing contract
submitted by the plaintiff that has been record-filed with and announced by the
Trademark Office.
d. Punitive damages
Where the infringer maliciously infringes upon the plaintiff's right to
exclusive use of a trademark and falls under grave circumstances, the amount of
compensation may be determined as not less than one time but not more than three
times the amount determined according to the methods for calculating the amount
of loss suffered by the right holder or the amount of profits gained by the
infringer as a result of the infringement.
e. Statutory damages
Where the actual loss suffered by the right holder as a result of the
infringement, the profits gained by the infringer from the infringement and the
royalties of the registered trademark are all difficult to determine, the
people's court may apply the principle of statutory damages, and render a
judgment on awarding compensation of up to RMB three million to the plaintiff
depending on the circumstances of the infringing acts.
To apply the principle of statutory damages, the people's court shall consider
the following factors:
(a) The nature, duration and consequences of the infringing acts;
(b) The reputation of the trademark;
(c) The amount of royalties of the trademark;
(d) The type, period and scope of trademark licensing; and
(e) The amount of reasonable expenses incurred for stopping the infringement.
After the people's court has determined the amount of statutory damages, if the
parties concerned reach a mediation agreement in accordance with the provisions
on the amount of statutory damages, the mediation agreement shall be upheld.
f. Reasonable expenses
Reasonable expenses incurred for stopping infringement shall include:
(a) Notarization fees;
(b) Expenses for investigation and evidence collection, including file search
fees and fees for printing written materials;
(c) Transportation fees, accommodation fees, fees for meals, etc.;
(d) Translation fees; and
(e) Reasonable lawyers' fees.
g. Applying the principle of statutory damages if the infringer obstructs the
provision of evidence
Where the right holder has duly discharged its obligation of burden of proof,
but the account books and materials related to the infringing acts are mainly
controlled by the infringer, the relevant people's court may, for the purpose
of determining the amount of compensation, order the infringer to submit
account books and materials related to the infringing acts. Where the infringer
fails to provide such account books and materials or provides false account
books and materials, the people's court may, at its discretion, render a judgment
on the amount of compensation by reference to the claims of the right holder
and the evidence furnished thereby.
9. Well-known trademarks
The holder of a trademark that is well known to the relevant public may request
for protection of the trademark as a well-known trademark in accordance with
the Trademark Law if it is of the opinion that its rights have been infringed
upon.
(1) Principles of protection
Where a trademark that is a reproduction, imitation or translation of another
party's well-known trademark already registered in China is under registration
application for being used on goods that are not the same as or not similar to
the goods approved for the well-known trademark, the registration of the
trademark shall not be approved and its use shall be prohibited if it misleads
the public and will result in possible damage to the interests of the
registrant of the well-known trademark.
Where a trademark that is a reproduction, imitation or translation of another
party's well-known trademark not yet registered in China is under registration
application for being used on goods that are the same as or similar to the
goods approved for the well-known trademark, the registration of the trademark
shall not be approved and its use shall be prohibited if it is likely to cause
confusion.
(2) Principles for recognition
a. The principle of passive recognition;
b. The principle of recognition on a case-by-case basis;
c. The principle of de facto recognition; and
d. The principle of recognition based on actual needs.
(3) Where a party concerned claims that its trademark is well-known during the
adjudication of a case, the party may, depending on the specific circumstances
of the case, take into consideration the following factors to prove that its
trademark has been well known to the relevant public when the alleged acts of
trademark infringement or unfair competition occur:
(a) The market share, geographical regions of sales, profits and tax revenue,
etc. of the goods bearing the trademark;
(b) The duration of continuous use of the trademark;
(c) The ways, duration, extent, fund investment and geographical scope of the
publicity or promotional activities of the trademark;
(d) The records of the trademark previously being protected as a well-known
trademark;
(e) The market reputation enjoyed by the trademark; and
(f) Other factors that serve to prove that the trademark has been well known to
the relevant public.