On February 25, 2016, The State Counsel Legislative Affairs Office (“SCLAO”) released a draft amendment (“Draft Amendment”) of the PRC Anti-Unfair Competition Law (“AUCL”) for comment by industry and other stakeholders. Article 5 of the 1993 AUCL provides the basis for claims against Business Operators for unfair trade practices involving the misuse and misappropriation of trade dress, enterprise names, and other commercial signs. The Draft Amendment of the AUCL contains some interesting and encouraging language, but could benefit from additional clarification and fine tuning. Industry has until March 25, 2016 to submit comments on the Draft Amendment to the AUCL, and numerous industry organizations have been collecting comments for submission to SCLAO over the last few weeks. Here are some highlights of proposed changes to Article 5, and some of the open issues that will hopefully be addressed before a final version of the revised AUCL sees the light of day.
Continue Reading Improper Use of Commercial Signs — Proposed Revisions to Article 5 of the PRC Anti-Unfair Competition Law
Recent Developments in Recordal Procedures for Trademark Licenses in China
On August 26, 2015, the Trademark Office of The State Administration For Industry & Commerce of the People’s Republic of China (“TMO”) issued revised guidelines entitled Applications for Recordal of Licenses of Registered Trademarks, Recordal of Licensor/Licensee Name Change, Recordal of Early Termination of Trademark Licenses and Recordal of Withdrawal of Trademark Licenses (“2015 Guidelines”). The 2015 Guidelines are a slightly revised version of guidelines issued in 2014 that were intended to bring the license recordal regime in line with the 2014 Trademark Law and its Implementing Regulations. The TMO has not indicated whether the 1997 Measures for the Filing of Recordals of Trademark License Contracts (“1997 Recordal Measures”) will remain in effect after the establishment of new recordal procedures and the issuance of the 2015 Guidelines, but it is clear that a number of provisions of those earlier measures have been rendered moot under the new regime.
Continue Reading Recent Developments in Recordal Procedures for Trademark Licenses in China