Trademark Law of the People's Republic of China

(Adopted at the 24th meeting of the Standing Committee of the Fifth National People's Congress on August 23, 1982, in accordance with February 1993 The "Decision on Amending the Trademark Law of the People's Republic of China" was revised for the first time at the 30th meeting of the Standing Committee of the Seventh National People's Congress on October 22, 2001. According to the ninth session of the National People's Congress on October 27, 2001 "Decision on Amending the Trademark Law of the People's Republic of China" at the 24th Meeting of the Standing Committee of the Congress (Second Amendment)

About the "Trademark Law of the People's Republic of China" Explanation of the "Amendment (Draft)" (Excerpt)

(December 22, 1992)

Liu Minxue, Director of the State Administration for Industry and Commerce

1. Trademarks The Necessity of Law Amendment

The Trademark Law of the People's Republic of China (hereinafter referred to as the "Trademark Law") was adopted in the 20th Session of the Standing Committee of the Fifth National People's Congress on August 23, 1982. It was adopted and announced at the fourth meeting and came into effect on March 1, 1983.

The "Trademark Law" is an important law on the protection of intellectual property rights with the core of protecting the exclusive right of trademarks. Since the implementation of the Trademark Law for more than nine years, it has played a positive role in protecting productivity, promoting international economic and technological cooperation, developing my country's socialist commodity economy, and promoting the development of my country's trademark industry. The number of trademark registration applications in 1982 was 18,565, which increased to 67,604 in 1991; the number of valid registered trademarks was 84,047 at the end of 1982, and increased to 318,915 at the end of 1991; the number of countries and regions registering trademarks in my country is also increasing, with 28 in 1982 There are 13,148 national and regional registered trademarks. In 1991, there were 47,859 registered trademarks in 62 countries and regions.

After all, the Trademark Law was formulated in the early stages of my country’s reform and opening up. With the continuous deepening of reform and opening up and the continuous accumulation of practical experience, our country has joined the "Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property" and the "Madrid Agreement on the International Registration of Trademarks" in 1985 and 1989 respectively. In order to further improve our country's trademark system, It is necessary to make appropriate revisions to the current Trademark Law in order to be in line with common international practices and to meet the needs of my country's development of a socialist market economy. After more than three years of research, demonstration, and repeated revisions, and approved by the executive meeting of the State Council, the amendment (draft) to the Trademark Law that is now submitted for review has been formed.

Explanation on the "Amendment to the Trademark Law of the People's Republic of China (Draft)" (Excerpt)

(December 22, 2000, at the Ninth National People's Congress At the 19th meeting of the Standing Committee of the General Assembly)

Wang Zhongfu, Director of the State Administration for Industry and Commerce

Chairman, Vice Chairman, Secretary-General, and members:

< p> I am entrusted by the State Council to make the following explanation on the "Amendment to the Trademark Law of the People's Republic of China and the People's Republic of China (Draft)".

The "Trademark Law of the People's Republic of China" (hereinafter referred to as the current Trademark Law) was adopted by the 24th Session of the Standing Committee of the Fifth National People's Congress on August 23, 1982 (1983 Effective on March 1). On February 22, 1993, the 30th meeting of the Standing Committee of the Seventh National People's Congress revised some provisions. The formulation and implementation of this law has played an important role in protecting the exclusive rights of trademarks, urging trademark owners to ensure the quality of goods or services and maintaining trademark reputation, safeguarding the interests of consumers, and promoting economic development. However, with the development of the socialist market economy, my country's current trademark protection system needs to be further improved. In some aspects, it is inconsistent with the World Trade Organization rules, mainly the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (hereinafter referred to as the Agreement on Intellectual Property Rights). gap. my country has made a commitment to fully implement the Intellectual Property Agreement when it officially joins the World Trade Organization. In order to improve my country's trademark protection system, further strengthen the protection of exclusive rights to trademarks, promote economic development and prosperity, and adapt to my country's accession to the World Trade Organization, it is urgent to make appropriate revisions to the current trademark law on the basis of summarizing practical experience. of.

The Legislative Affairs Office of the State Council and the State Administration for Industry and Commerce have carefully studied and solicited the Legal Affairs Working Committee of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, relevant departments of the State Council and relevant experts on the basis of summarizing the practical experience of the implementation of the current Trademark Law for many years. , scholars' opinions, the "Amendment to the Trademark Law of the People's Republic of China (Draft)" (hereinafter referred to as the draft) was formulated. The draft has been adopted by the 33rd executive meeting of the State Council. This revision of the current Trademark Law is aimed at improving the current trademark protection system and is mainly based on my country's external commitments to revise provisions that have gaps between the current Trademark Law and the World Trade Organization's intellectual property protection rules.

Report by the Legal Committee of the National People’s Congress on the Amendment to the Trademark Law of the People’s Republic of China (Draft)

(Excerpt)

( April 18, 2001)

Standing Committee of the National People's Congress:

The 19th meeting of the Standing Committee of the Ninth National People's Congress made a preliminary preliminary review of the Trademark Law Amendment (Draft) Deliberation. Many members of the Standing Committee believe that in order to adapt to my country's accession to the World Trade Organization and further strengthen the protection of exclusive rights to trademarks, appropriate revisions to the Trademark Law are necessary. At the same time, some suggestions for modifications were also put forward. After the meeting, the Legal Affairs Working Committee issued the draft to all provinces, autonomous regions, municipalities directly under the Central Government, relevant central departments and some enterprises and institutions, universities and research institutions to solicit opinions. The Legal Committee, the Financial and Economic Committee, and the Legal Affairs Committee jointly held a symposium with relevant central departments and relevant experts to further solicit opinions. The Legal Committee held a meeting on April 11 and reviewed the draft article by article based on the deliberation opinions of the Standing Committee members and the opinions of other relevant parties. Responsible comrades from the Financial and Economic Commission and relevant departments of the State Council attended the meeting. April 18th. The Law Committee reviewed it again. The Legal Committee believes that in order to further improve my country's trademark protection system, adapt to my country's accession to the World Trade Organization, and promote my country's economic development, it is necessary to amend the Trademark Law. At the same time, the following main revision opinions are put forward:

1. Article 1 of the draft amendment stipulates: "In order to strengthen trademark management, protect the exclusive rights of trademarks, urge producers to ensure product quality and maintain trademark reputation, so as to protect consumers This law is specially formulated to protect the interests of the people and promote the development of the socialist market economy." Some members of the Standing Committee, localities and departments have proposed that my country’s trademark law protects both commodity trademarks and service trademarks. Therefore, not only should producers be encouraged to ensure product quality and maintain trademark reputation, but service operators should also ensure service quality. Maintain trademark credibility. Therefore, the Legal Committee recommends that Article 1 of the draft amendment be revised to: “In order to strengthen trademark management, protect the exclusive right to use trademarks, urge producers and operators to ensure the quality of goods and services, and maintain trademark reputation, so as to protect the interests of consumers and promote social This law is specially formulated to promote the development of a socialist market economy." (Article 1 of the Second Review Draft of the Amendment Draft)

Report of the National People’s Congress Legal Committee’s Opinions on Revising Five Draft Laws including the Decision to Amend the Copyright Law (Excerpt)

(2001 October 27, 2018)

Wang Weicheng, Chairman of the Legal Committee of the National People's Congress

2. Decision on Amending the Trademark Law (Draft)

(1) Some Members of the Standing Committee proposed that strengthening trademark management is not only to protect the interests of consumers, but also to protect the legitimate rights and interests of producers and operators. This content should be reflected in the legislative purpose of this law. Therefore, the Legal Committee recommended that the first article of the draft be revised to read: “In order to strengthen trademark management, protect the exclusive rights of trademarks, urge producers and operators to ensure the quality of goods and services, and maintain the reputation of trademarks, so as to protect the interests of consumers and producers and operators "This law is specially formulated to promote the development of the socialist market economy" (Article 1 of the proposed voting draft)

The legislative purpose of the Trademark Law

The Trademark Law of the People's Republic of China. Law (Excerpt)

Article 1 is to strengthen trademark management, protect the exclusive rights to trademarks, urge producers and operators to ensure the quality of goods and services, and maintain trademark reputation, so as to protect the interests of consumers and producers and operators. This law is specially formulated to promote the development of the socialist market economy.

·Explanation on the "Amendment to the Trademark Law of the People's Republic of China (Draft)" (Excerpt)

(December 22, 2000 at the Ninth National People's Congress At the 19th Meeting of the Standing Committee of the Congress)

Wang Zhongfu, Director of the State Administration for Industry and Commerce

IV. Regarding the Protection of Well-known Trademarks

The Tenth Intellectual Property Agreement Article 6. Article 6bis of the Paris Convention provides for the protection of well-known trademarks. The current trademark law does not provide for this. Article 25 of the Implementing Rules of the Trademark Law only provides for the protection of “trademarks well known to the public”. The State Administration for Industry and Commerce issued the "Interim Provisions on the Recognition and Management of Well-Known Trademarks" in 1996, which were revised and re-issued in 1998. In practice, my country has protected well-known trademarks in accordance with the requirements of the Paris Convention. In order to effectively protect the interests of well-known trademark rights holders, based on the provisions of the intellectual property agreement and my country's actual practice, the draft adds a provision: "A trademark applied for registration on the same or similar goods is a copy, imitation or translation of someone else's well-known trademark that has not been registered in China. , which is likely to cause confusion, will not be registered and is prohibited from being used. ""A trademark applied for registration for different or dissimilar goods is a copy, imitation or translation of a well-known trademark that has been registered in China, misleading the public, and causing the well-known trademark to be owned by others. If the interests of persons may be harmed, registration shall not be allowed and use shall be prohibited” (Article 6).

my country’s legal protection of well-known trademarks

In March 1985, China became the The member states of the Paris Convention have begun China's exploratory practice in the protection of well-known trademarks.

In August 1987, the Trademark Office of the State Administration for Industry and Commerce recognized the "PIZZA HUT" trademark and roof graphic trademark of Pizza Hut International Co., Ltd. in the United States as well-known trademarks in a trademark objection case (this is China's accession to the "Paris" (the first well-known trademark recognized after the Convention), the same trademark registered by Australian Hongtu Company on the same goods will not be registered.

In August 1988, the Trademark Office of the State Administration for Industry and Commerce determined that the "Lux" trademark of the British company Unilive was a well-known trademark in a trademark dispute case, and prohibited the daily necessities wholesale department of Shanghai Department Store from The trademark is used on soap dishes.

In November 1989, the Trademark Office of the State Administration for Industry and Commerce also recognized the Chinese "Tongrentang" trademark as a well-known trademark to help the then Beijing Medicinal Materials Company solve the problem of the trademark being registered in Japan.

From 1991 to 1995, the Trademark Office of the State Administration for Industry and Commerce also used public questionnaires and other methods to identify "Haier", "Kweichow Moutai", "Changyu" and "Panda" with great fanfare. " and 18 well-known trademarks. These measures have aroused strong social response and promoted the spread of the concept of well-known trademarks in the legal sense among Chinese enterprises and the public.

In August 1996, the State Administration for Industry and Commerce issued and implemented the "Interim Provisions on the Recognition and Management of Well-known Trademarks" in the form of Bureau Order No. 56 (referred to as "State Administration for Industry and Commerce Order No. 56"). The term "well-known trademark" in its English version is also translated as "wen-known mark". This is China's first legal document that explicitly protects "well-known trademarks".

In November 2001, the Beijing Higher People's Court recognized the "DUPONT" ??trademark of DuPont of the United States as a well-known trademark in judicial proceedings, and upheld the Beijing No. 1 Intermediate People's Court's decision to revoke the use of the trademark as a domain name by others. Registered first instance judgment. This is the first case in which a well-known trademark has been identified and clearly protected by Chinese judicial authorities.