China's IPR Policy Shift Promises Better Protection Of International Brands

HONG KONG - Sept. 20, 2017 - PRLog -- China's Intellectual Property Office declared its intention to implement an IP strategy to develop China into an IP powerhouse. The Chinese courts and trademark authorities have started to clarify the element of bad faith: "Bad faith registrations are malicious. They disturb the market and distort the trademark system", said chief judge Su Chi. Bad faith refers to the filing of a trademark of a famous foreign brand with the intent to profit from it. With that, it seems that a shift in trademark policy is starting to happen in China. The recent cases of international brands such as Facebook, Michael Jordan, MGM Studios and Esso which were decided in their favour against IP infringement in China are possibly a sign of that new direction. So far, infringement claims in China are a challenging undertaking and often, the only remedy is to acquire the trademark from its Chinese owner. This new approach may improve the success rate of a claim. Nevertheless, for smaller brands, the outlook may not be as bright. Infringement suits can be very lengthy and costly procedures implying that smaller firms would simply not survive.


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