Our client LS&Co. is the owner of “LEVI’S” in China. Its brand “LEVI’S” is known as “Li-Wei-Si” (In Chinese: 李维斯) by Chinese consumers. A trademark squatter, an individual named Liu Zuofu, registered a trademark fully incorporating “Li-Wei-Si” as early as 2010: “Ku-Ai-Li-Wei-Si.” At this time the client owned no prior registration of the Chinese mark “Li-Wei-Si.” Liu Zuofu also owns a company named Guangzhou City Yixuan Apparel Co., Ltd. to manufacture and distribute “Ku-Ai-Li-Wei-Si” branded infringing jeans.
The case was listed as a “cluster battle” case under the supervision of the Central PSB of China and widely acknowledged as a success.
In March 2014, Unwired Planet brought an action against Huawei, Samsung and Google for the infringement of its UK patents, including 5 standard essential patents (“SEP”) covered by 2G, 3G and 4G telecommunication standards.
As COVID-19 spreads over the world, at this difficult time, we are concerned about people affected by covid-19 worldwide.
According to the No. 349 Announcement of the National Intellectual Property Administration of P. R. China, for all patents issued on or after 3 March 2020, only electronic patent certificates will be issued. Patent certificate on paper could be requested separately if needed.
To enhance the efficiency of examinations of trademark applications in China, so that trademark applications can mature to registration more quickly, the China trademark authorities have been speeding up examination procedures. By doing so, many pending cases have been concluded and the examination period has been drastically shortened. In the past, it was normal for a trademark application to be pending 3 years after its application date; today, an application can be approved for preliminary registration in around 6 months.
In 2012, the Civil Procedure Law of People’s Republic of China introduced the idea of a “blacklist” of dishonest debtors (officially named the List of Dishonest Enforcees). In the following years, multiple interpretations of these procedures by the Supreme People’s Court provided guidance on how enforcement measures could be used against debtors. These measures include a prohibition of extravagant consumption, judicial custody, and criminal punishment.
OEM is short for Original Equipment Manufacturer, and refers to a business mode in which a brand holder does not directly manufacture its products but entrusts another party with the manufacture and then directly applies the trademark of its own brand on the products. A manufacturer who undertakes such work is called an OEM, and its products OEM products.
As stipulated in Article 26.4 of the Chinese Patent Law, the claims shall be supported by the description and shall define the extent of the patent protection sought for in a clear and concise manner.
Infringers in China are getting bolder. Recently, we have been made aware of third party registrations of package designs used to hold brand owners and their products ransom.
