A trademark is an important distinguishing tool that a company can utilize to generate its own unique following and identity. Companies spend millions to promote and protect the trademarks they develop. For this very reason trademark laws are an important area of law that ensures that the intellectual property of a company is secured and protected.
The trademark laws in China have undergone a huge shift in the past couple of years. While previously many companies coming with the intent to trade or set up their businesses in China had grave concerns about the protection of their intellectual property, the new and revised laws have helped put a lot of these concerns to rest. The new laws clearly show the intent of the government to promote anti-piracy and IP infringement protections. The new regulations have been operational since 2014 and will ensure that the businesses in China will continue to flourish.
While these policies are still relatively new, they have already started to create an impact. By acting as a deterrent towards piracy and infringement, these laws have created a safeguard that investing parties were looking for. A company now registering for a trademark will have to prove their ‘prior rights’ to that certain trade mark and will be awarded that trademark in ‘good faith’ only.
Hence, the compliant from the majority of investors or businesses moving into China about their trademarks being used by other rival and competitor firms are now being addressed. If the international businesses prove that they have ‘prior rights’ to the trademark and the mark in question is a well-known symbol or figure that they have used in the past, they will be given the prior right to use it. This law is in the acknowledgment of the fact that the company responsible has worked in order to develop the repute and value that is attached with their mark. A simple procedure with a few necessary documents submitted to the China Trademark Review and Adjudication Board, including existing trademark certificates to prove prior rights, will allow the international companies to benefit from this positive development the Chinese law.
The ‘good faith’ principle is a step ahead of the ‘prior rights’ principle, and is set to ensure that ambiguities and confusions will be tackled by CTMO from the get go. Hence before registering for any trademark, the company would have to ensure that the mark that they are registering for was not developed by a rival company who will have the ‘prior rights’ to it. If the mark being registered for was developed by a competitor working on similar products elsewhere, the applicant will be considered to have applied for that certain symbol or figure in bad faith and will not be awarded the use of that symbol.
These measures come as a great hope for all the companies desirous to enter one of the world’s biggest economic hubs. With such measures in place, China is primed to become an even more attractive investment avenue than before.