Misuse of well-known trademarks to be controlled

After two revisions in 1993 and 2001, China's 26-year long Trademark Law will be amended for the third time.

It was learnt from the State Administration for Industry and Commerce that, at present, the draft of Modification of Trademark Law has been completed. And it tries to finish the revision procedure of the Trademark Law within the first half of this year, and conclude the amendment of the Trademark Law by the year 2010 at latest.

The newly-amended draft of China's Trademark Law stipulates the use of well-known trademarks, and firms' behaviors of misappropriating and misusing well-known trademarks will be restrained. "At the moment, the creation, use and management of well-known trademarks in China are disordered. On legislation and management, the management of well-known trademarks is almost blank on the whole." According to Deputy Director of Intellectual Property Center of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences surnamed Li, who has participated in the opinion-soliciting meetings on the amendment of the Trademark Law for several times.  "And some enterprises having gained the title of 'Chinese Well-known Trademark' make use of it in their commercial ads, and illegally extend the implications of jurisdiction and administrative law enforcement on well-known trademarks, even misuse well-known trademarks. How to utilize well-known trademarks has been questioned by outsiders for a long time."

(Source: IPR in China)

AFD China Newsletter is intended to provide our clients and friends information only. It should not constitute legal advice of AFD China or any of its attorneys, and AFD China will not be held responsible for any reliance on its contents.