On August 22nd, the Trademark Office of the State Administration for Industry and Commerce held a seminar on the protection of prior rights to trademark for names of well-known works and characters at China Trademark Building. Professionals and intellectuals from the academia and from the industry proceeded discussions with the relevant directors of the State Administration for Industry and Commerce, regarding the legal basis, protection conditions, and practical implementation in examination procedures of protecting the prior rights to trademark for names of well-known works and characters. They exchanged their opinions and reached agreements. 

With the continuous deepening of the reform of commercial system and the advancement of the reform in trademark registration expedition, the number of applications for trademarks increased year by year in China. There were 2.27 million in the first half of 2017 and the number is expected to exceed 5 million. With the tremendous growth in the number of applications and increasingly intensive market competiveness, preemptive registrations made in bad faith are becoming frequent as well. Some applicants violate the principle of honesty and credibility and preemptively register the trademarks that are already used by others; some applicants do not use the trademarks themselves but amass huge number of trademarks and sell them for good prices; some applicants register huge number of symbols that are the same as or similar to Chinese and foreign well-known trademarks on other products and services category; some applicants register the names of famous movies, TV series, and their characters as trademarks…

Preemptive registrations made in bad faith not only harm the legal rights of the prior right holders, but also disrupt the market order of fair competition. Their severe detriment has sparkled a growing advocacy to restrict preemptive registration actions.  

The new Trademark Law, amended in 2013 and implemented on May 1st 2014, not only incorporates the principle of honesty and credibility in article 7, but also introduce relevant regulations in articles including 15 and 32 to restrict preemptive registration made in bad faith. After the implementation of the new law, the Trademark Office of the State Administration of Industry and Commerce and the Trademark Review and Adjudication Board are also adopting a series of measures to realize the abstract legal regulations into actual efforts. For example, efforts including the update and adjustment of the Similar Products and Services Classification, the integrated trialing of related cases, the publication of model cases, and the application of big data to reinforce cooperation have obtained considerable success and received recognition from right holder.

At the same time, combating preemptive registration and guarding fair competition has become the hot topic that has caught the attention of the trademark administrative institutions in multiple countries around the world. In recent years, the trademark administrative institutions in developed countries and regions, such as the United States and the European Union, held several kinds of seminars with the State Administration of Industry and Commerce to discuss how to restrict preemptive registration made in bad faith.

Reporters learnt from the seminar that, the Trademark Office has already held several themed seminars to study the question of preemptive registration this year. They had characterized six categories of preemptive registrations made in bad faith and identified the legal basis for their restriction. The preemptive registration of well-known works and character names, discussed by this seminar, was only one of the six types, and the Trademark Office would proceed themed seminars on the other types of preemptive registrations.

Professionals and intellectuals from the institutions including Legislative Affairs Commission of the NPC Standing Committee, China Youth University of Political Studies, along with representatives from the Trademark Office, the Trademark Review and Adjudication Board, the Trademark Examination Cooperation Center, and the China Trademark Association, writer representatives and media reporters, totaling more 20 people, attended the seminar. The attendees unanimously reckoned that the proceeding of the seminar was extremely timely and necessary. They also suggested to further advance the researching process, to better utilize legal regulation to effective fight preemptive registration made in bad faith, to protect the legal rights of the prior right holders and the market order of fair completion, and thereby to maintain a healthy commercial environment.