Per news reports from China’s Legal Daily and Xinhua, the 22nd meeting of the Standing Committee of the 13th National People’s Congress completed the revision of the Patent Law on October 17, 2020. The newly amended patent law will come into effect on June 1, 2021. As of writing, the text of the amended patent law has not been released so it is unknown exactly what changes have been made from the most recent draft for comments. However, the reports …
Category: New Law, Rule or Implementing Regulation
China’s Supreme People’s Court Releases Guiding Opinions on Trial of Civil Cases Involving Intellectual Property Rights of E-commerce Platforms
On September 13, 2020, China’s Supreme People’s Court released the Guiding Opinions on Trial of Civil Cases Involving Intellectual Property Rights of E-commerce Platforms (关于审理涉电子商务平台知识产权民事案件的指导意见). The Opinions may make takedowns of infringing products sold on e-commerce platforms easier and more common. As Mark Cohen, prior U.S. IP Attaché in Beijing and now at Berkeley, stated, the “The Guiding Opinion should further help implement obligations set forth in Section 1 (E) of the Phase 1 Trade Agreement regarding ‘Piracy and Counterfeiting …
China’s Draft Measures for the Administration of Trademark Agencies Should Further Reduce Trademark Squatting
On September 24, 2020, the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) issued the Administrative Measures for Trademark Agencies (Draft for Comment) (商标代理管理办法 (征求意见稿)). While the measures mostly address the management of Chinese trademark agencies, several articles in the measures will be beneficial to foreign brands that have been and continue to be at risk of trademark squatting in China.
China Releases Antitrust Guidelines for Intellectual Property
China’s State Administration for Market Regulation released the Antitrust (also referred to as Anti-Monopoly) Guidelines of the Antitrust Committee of the State Council on the Field of Intellectual Property (国务院反垄断委员会关于知识产权领域的反垄断指南). The guidelines are dated January 4, 2019 but only officially released on September 18, 2020. The guidelines cover Intellectual Property Agreements That May Exclude or Restrict Competition; Abuse of Dominant Market Position Involving Intellectual Property Rights; Concentration of Operators Involving Intellectual Property Rights; and other Circumstances, such as patent pooling.