|
The Greater China IP Updates ¡V
Mar 2023
By Lyndon
¡@
China Issues Draft Amendment to the Trademark Law
On January 13, 2023, China¡¦s National Intellectual Property
Administration issued the Draft Amendment to the Trademark Law and
opened it up for comments. 23 new articles were added and 45 articles
were substantially revised. Many of the amendments focus on reducing
malicious registrations of trademarks and also introduces a system to
force the transfer of maliciously squatted trademarks. Some of the main
points are as follows:
1. Article 14 emphasizes that trademarks applied for registration must
not violate public order.
2. Article 22 clarifies the specific circumstances of malicious
application for trademark registration.
3. Articles 45 to 47 establish a system of forced transfer of
maliciously squatted trademarks.
4. Article 48 clarifies that after a maliciously registered trademark is
declared invalid, the applicant shall bear legal liabilities for the
infringement.
5. Article 67 increases the amount of fines for malicious registration
of trademarks.
6. Article 32 states that fabricating, concealing important facts or
deliberately providing false materials and similar dishonest behavior
will be punished.
7. Article 61 states that trademark registrants will now be required to
file statements of use every five years and will be subject to spot
checks.
¡@
China Updates Interim Measures For Examination Related to the
Implementation of the 2021 Amended Patent Law
When the 4th Amendment to the China Patent Law took effect,
the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) also
announced the Interim Measures for Examination Related to the
Implementation of the 2021 Amended Patent Law. Amendments, however, to
the Implementation Regulations are still ongoing. Recently, on 5 January
2023, the CNIPA issued new Interim Measures, and the most significant
are listed as follows:
1. For Design Patent Applications on Partial Designs, the applicant must
submit to the Patent Office the drawing(s) of the whole product and
identify the claimed partial design(s) by using dotted and solid lines.
If the partial design is a 3-dimensional design, the drawings must
include a 3-dimensional drawing clearly showing the partial design.
2. For Design Patent Applications, the applicant can now claim a
domestic priority claim for the said design patent application. Also, if
the earlier filed application is a design patent application, it shall
be considered as having been withdrawn as of the later filed design
patent application being filed. If the earlier patent application is an
invention patent application or a utility model application, the
applicant can file a design patent application with a domestic priority
claim to the said invention or utility model application, which covers
the same design shown in the related drawings.
3. If an applicant is not satisfied with a decision issued by the CNIPA,
he or she may apply for administration reconsideration or reexamination,
or file an administrative suit pursuant to the relevant laws and
regulations.
4. As of the date of implementing the Interim Measures, in the case of a
patent application filed on or after 1 June, 2021, the applicant may,
via paper filing or electronic filing, file a declaration as to the
novelty grace period. Likewise, a patentee may, via paper filing or
electronic filing, file a declaration for open licensing of its patent
once the date of implementing the Interim Measures occurs. Finally, an
accused infringer may, pursuant to Article 66 of the Patent Law, file an
application via paper filing or electronic filing for issuance of a
patent right evaluation report issued by the CNIPA.
¡@
|