(Adopted at the 1606th Session of the Judicial Committee of the Supreme People's Court on February 10, 2014)
Fa Shi No. 4 [2014]
Public Announcement of the Supreme People's Court
The Interpretations of the Supreme People's Court Concerning the Jurisdiction and Application Law in the Cases of Trademarks after the Entry into Force of the Decision Amending the Chinese Trademark Law have been adopted at the 1606th Session of the Judicial Committee of the Supreme People's Court on February 10, 2014, and are hereby promulgated for implementation as of May 1, 2014.
The Supreme People's Court
March 25, 2014
With a view to correctly hear the trademark cases, some issues of People's Court concerning the jurisdiction and application of law in the trademark cases are hereby interpreted on the basis of the statutory provisions, including the Decision of the 4th Session of the Standing Committee of the 12th National People's Congress on Amending the Chinese Trademark Law (adopted on August 30, 2013), and the Chinese Trademark Law (2013 Amendment), the Chinese Civil Procedure Law, and the Chinese Administrative Procedure Law, etc.
Article 1 The People's Court shall accept the trademark cases as follows:
- Administrative cases concerning dissatisfaction with the review decision or ruling rendered by the Trademark Review and Adjudication Board under the State Administration for Industry and Commerce (hereinafter referred to as the Trademark Review and Adjudication Board);
- Cases concerning dissatisfaction with specific administrative act regarding trademarks rendered by the Administration for Industry and Commerce;
- Dispute cases concerning the trademark ownership;
- Dispute cases concerning the trademark infringement;
- Dispute cases concerning trademark non-infringement declaratory judgment;
- Dispute cases concerning the trademark assignment contract;
- Dispute cases concerning the trademark license contract;
- Dispute cases concerning the trademark agency contract;
- Dispute cases concerning pre-trial cease of the trademark infringement;
- Cases concerning liabilities for damages arising from applying the cease of the trademark infringement;
- Cases concerning applying for pre-trial property preservation arising from the trademark dispute;
- Cases concerning applying for pre-trial evidence preservation arising from the trademark dispute;
- Other trademark cases.
Article 2 The administrative cases concerning dissatisfaction with the review decision or ruling rendered by the Trademark Review and Adjudication Board and cases concerning dissatisfaction with specific administrative act regarding trademark rendered by the Trademark Office under State Administration for Industry and Commerce (hereinafter referred to as the Trademark Office) shall be under the jurisdiction of the relevant Intermediate People's Court in Beijing.
Article 3 Civil cases of the first instance shall be under the jurisdiction of the Intermediate People's Court and above, or the Supreme People's Court appointed basic People's Court.
Civil and administrative cases concerning protection of well-known trademark shall be under the jurisdiction of the Intermediate People's Court of the city where the provincial or autonomous region People's Government is located, the Intermediate People's Court of the specifically designated in the state plan or the municipalities directly under the Central Government, and the Supreme People's Court appointed other Intermediate People's Courts.
Article 4 Where an interested party brings a lawsuit regarding the trademark ownership or trademark infringement during the procedure of investigating and handling the trademark infringement by the Administration for Industry and Commerce, the People' Court shall accept the case.
Article 5 Where the application for trademark registration and renewal is filed before the entry into force of the Decision Amending the Chinese Trademark Law, and where the decision of refusing the acceptance of the trademark application or refusing the renewal by the Trademark Office is rendered after the entry into force thereof, if an
interested party brings an administrative lawsuit, the People's Court shall apply the Chinese Trademark Law after amendment.
Where the application for trademark opposition is filed before the entry into force of the Decision Amending the Chinese Trademark Law, and where the decision of refusing the acceptance of opposition by the Trademark Office is rendered after the entry into force thereof, if an interested party brings an administrative lawsuit, the People's Court shall apply the Chinese Trademark Law before amendment.
Article 6 Where an interested party files a review request before the entry into force of the Decision Amending the Chinese Trademark Law for a pending trademark application, and where the Trademark Review and Adjudication Board renders the review decision or ruling after the entry into force thereof, if an interested party brings an administrative lawsuit, the People's Court shall apply the Chinese Trademark Law after amendment.
Where the review request for trademarks is accepted by the Trademark Review and Adjudication Board before the entry into force of the Decision Amending the Chinese Trademark Law, and where the trademark is approved for registration by the Trademark Review and Adjudication Board after the entry into force thereof, if an interested party brings an administrative lawsuit, the People's Court shall not accept the case; and where the trademark is denied for registration by the Trademark Review and Adjudication Board after the entry into force thereof, if an interested party brings an administrative lawsuit, the People's Court shall apply the Chinese Trademark Law before amendment for the relevant rights regarding lawsuits and qualification regarding the entity.
Article 7 Where the trademark has been approved for registration before the entry into force of the Decision Amending the Chinese Trademark Law, and where the Trademark Review and Adjudication Board accept the review request before the entry into force of the Decision Amending the Chinese Trademark Law while rendering the decision or ruling after the entry into force thereof, if an interested party brings an administrative lawsuit, the People's Court shall apply the Chinese Trademark Law after amendment for procedural issues, and shall apply the Chinese Trademark Law before amendment for substantial issues.
Article 8 Where the relevant trademark cases are accepted before the entry into force of the Decision Amending the Chinese Trademark Law, and where the Trademark Office and the Trademark Review and Adjudication Board renders the decision or ruling after the entry into force thereof, if an interested party brings an administrative lawsuit, the People's Court shall calculate the time limitation for examination and review starting the date of the entry into force thereof when determining whether said decision or ruling meet the time limitation for examination and review prescribed by the Chinese Trademark Law.
Article 9 Except for situations prescribed otherwise by these interpretations, where the trademark civil cases are accepted by the People's Court after the entry into force of the Decision Amending the Chinese Trademark Law, for the act occurs before the entry into force thereof, the People's Court shall apply the Chinese Trademark Law before amendment; for the act occurs before the entry into force thereof and continues after the entry into force thereof, the People's Court shall apply the Chinese Trademark Law after amendment.
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