4 August 2021
Laws and Regulations
CNIPA Releases an Announcement to Protect the Five Ring Logo of the Olympic Games and the Emblem of the Paralympic Games
国知局发布公告保护奥运会五环标志及残奥会徽记标志
Issue Date: 2021-07-09
Effective Date: 2021-07-09
According to the "Regulations on the Protection of Olympic Symbols", the CNIPA will issue a notice on the "Olympic Rings Logo" submitted by the International Olympic Committee and the "International Paralympic Committee Logo" submitted by the International Paralympic Committee. The International Olympic Committee and the International Paralympic Committee shall enjoy the exclusive right to the below two marks for a period of 10 years.
No. A000035 Olympic Rings Logo
No. A000061 International Paralympic Committee Emblem
Source: https://www.cnipa.gov.cn/art/2021/7/9/art_74_164303.html,
https://www.cnipa.gov.cn/art/2021/7/9/art_74_164301.html
Case Spotlight
CNIPA Releases Data for the First Half of 2021
国家知识产权局发布2021年上半年数据
Issue Date: 2021-07-16
On 14 July 2021, the CNIPA released its half-year statistics on patents, trademarks, geographical indications and integrated circuit layout designs.
Overall, the data indicated 3 main features: First, the examination capacity of intellectual property has continued to improve. By the end of June, the average examination period for invention patents had been reduced to 19.4 months, high-value patents to 13.4 months, and trademark registrations to within 4 months. Second, the number of enterprises with invention patents has steadily increased. By the end of June, there were 270,000 enterprises with valid invention patents, 24,000 more than the end of last year. Among them, 126,000 high-tech enterprises owned 1,077,000 valid invention patents, accounting for 62.3% of the total number of valid invention patents. Third, registration of intellectual property rights by foreign applicants in China has continued to grow. In the first half of the year, 54,000 invention patents were granted to foreign applicants in China, a year-on-year increase of 30.0%; 90,000 trademarks were registered by foreign applicants in China, a year-on-year increase of 7.5%. The number of applications for invention patents and trademark registrations made by U.S. applicants increased by 35.0% and 8.9% respectively.
Source: https://www.sohu.com/a/477850550_120863254
Case Spotlight
JD Loses Second Instance Trial of its 618 Trademark Protection
京东维权618商标二审败诉
Date: 2021-07-09
In May 2019, Zhao filed an invalidation action against two trademarks registered in Class 35, including JD’s "618 Carnival" (Trademark No. 15665011), on the grounds that they lacked distinctive features and were easily misidentified by the relevant public. In May 2020, the CNIPA ruled that Zhao's grounds for invalidation were invalid. In January 2021, the Beijing Intellectual Property Court issued a first instance judgment, ordering the CNIPA to revoke its decision on the invalidation action. Both JD and the CNIPA appealed to the Beijing Higher People’s Court.
The Beijing Higher People's Court held in the second instance that the trademark at issue consisted of the number "618", the symbol ".” and the graphic image of a flame. Although it has a certain design, it is still recognized as a number on the whole. The trademark in dispute is approved for use in services such as "television broadcasting, information transmission", but it is difficult for the relevant public to identify it as a sign to distinguish the source of services, and it lacks the distinctive features of a trademark. The evidence in the case was not sufficient to prove that the trademark in dispute had formed an association with JD and that it could be used to identify the source of services. Therefore, the court of second instance upheld the original judgment. It found that the registration of the contested trademark violated Article 11(1)(3) of the Trademark Law of 2013, the facts were clear, and the applicable law was correct.
Disputed Trademark No. 15665011
Source: https://www.sohu.com/a/476484446_100130610%20
