National Intellectual Property Office Directors' Conference Held in Beijing
Date: 4 January 2024
On 4 January 2024, the National Intellectual Property Office Directors' Conference was held in Beijing. The Director of the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) reported that three major events had taken place in the intellectual property protection field in 2023: a new round of intellectual property institution reform; the release of several important documents in the field of intellectual property protection; and the holding of two events commemorating the 50th anniversary of cooperation between China and the World Intellectual Property Organization. Good progress had also been made in other areas. Throughout 2023, China granted 921,000 invention patents, 2.09 million utility model patents, 638,000 design patents, and 4.383 million registered trademarks. Also, 73,812 international patent applications had been filed through the PCT, 1166 design applications through the Hague Agreement for the International Registration of Industrial Designs (for the first 11 months), and 6,196 international trademark applications through the Madrid system, ranking China among the top filing countries in the world. In 2023, eight new Intellectual Property Protection Centers and seven Fast Right-Protection Centers were built, bringing the total number to 112.
The Report identifies a number of areas on which CNIPA will be focusing in 2024 to further improve the IP system and foster international co-operation. For example, there will be expedited efforts in a new round of amendments to the Trademark Law and its implementing regulations, a study of specialized legislation on geographical indications, and the revision of the Regulations on the Protection of Layout Designs of Integrated Circuits.
Source: CNIPA, 2024-01-04
全国知识产权局局长会议在京召开
日期：2024 年1月 4日
2024年1月4日，全国知识产权局局长会议在北京召开。国知局局长在会议上做出工作报告。根据报告， 2023年知识产权方面共发生了三件大事，一是中央推进了新一轮知识产权机构改革，二是中央审议出台了知识产权领域多个重要文件，三是成功举办了两场中国与世界知识产权组织合作五十周年纪念活动。其他方面的知识产权工作亦取得了良好进展。2023年全年，我国共授权发明专利92.1万件，实用新型专利209万件，外观设计专利63.8万件，注册商标438.3万件，通过PCT、海牙、马德里体系分别提交专利、外观设计、商标国际注册申请7.3812万件、1166件（前11个月）、6196件，稳居世界前列；2023年新建知识产权保护中心8家、快速维权中心7家，总数达到112家。
2024年，国知局将全面加强知识产权宏观统筹、全面加强知识产权法治保障、全面推进知识产权转化运用、全面完善知识产权保护体系、全面提升知识产权公共服务效能、全面提高知识产权国际合作水平、全面夯实知识产权事业发展基础以及全面加强党建和党风廉政建设。具体而言，将加快推进商标法及其实施条例新一轮修订、地理标志专门立法研究和《集成电路布图设计保护条例》修改论证等。
资料来源：国知局 2024-01-04
CNIPA Releases 'Measures for the Protection of Geographical Indication Products' and 'Provisions on Registration and Administration of Collective Marks and Certification Marks'
Publishing Date: 2 January 2024
Effective Date: 1 February 2024
The Measures for the Protection of Geographical Indication Products (the Measures) contain regulations relating to five key aspects of geographical indications: applications; examination and recognition procedures; protection and special mark use system for geographical indication products; modification and revocation; and protection and supervision. In particular, the Measures stipulate that geographical indication products must exhibit authenticity, regional characteristics, specificity, and association, and specify circumstances in which they will not be recognized. They provide for an objection process following technical examination, streamlining of the examination process, and they outline application modification procedures. Additionally, the Measures clarify the responsibilities of applicants and the producers' obligation to comply with the production standards. Once geographical indication products receive protection, applicants are mandated to implement measures to oversee the use of geographical indication product names and special marks, as well as the products' distinctive features and quality under the geographical indication.
The revised Provisions on Registration and Administration of Collective Marks and Certification Marks (the Provisions) strengthen the management requirements for both registrant and user. The Provisions set out the basic obligations and rights of the registrant and users. For example, in addition to establishing management rules, authorizing qualified users, and carrying out regular monitoring, the Provisions allow the registrant to reasonably charge fees based on fair and reasonable principles, and negotiate matters such as the amount of fees, payment methods, and payment deadlines. They also add provisions relating to the registration and fair use of trademarks containing geographical names, making it clear that the marks should have distinctive features, be readily distinguishable and not be detrimental to the public interest.
Source: CNIPA, 2024-01-02
https://www.cnipa.gov.cn/art/2024/1/2/art_3323_189480.html
https://www.cnipa.gov.cn/art/2024/1/2/art_3324_189481.html
国知局发布《地理标志产品保护办法》和《集体商标、证明商标注册和管理规定》
发文字号：国家知识产权局令第 79、80号
发文日期：2024 年1月 2日
生效日期：2024 年2月 1日
《地理标志产品保护办法》（《办法》）对地理标志的申请、审查及认定、地理标志产品保护体系及专用标志使用、变更和撤销及保护与监督这五大部分作出规定。具体而言，《办法》明确地理标志产品应具有真实性、地域性、特异性和关联性，并规定不予认定的情形，将异议程序置于技术审查之后，优化审查程序并规定了变更程序。此外，《办法》还明确了申请人管理职责和生产者按标准生产的义务，地理标志产品获得保护后，申请人应当采取措施对地理标志产品名称和专用标志的使用、产品特色质量等进行管理。
《集体商标、证明商标注册和管理规定》（《规定》）强化了对注册人和使用人的管理要求，一方面，注册人应按照使用管理规则实施日常管理，另一方面，使用人履行使用管理规则规定的手续后，可以使用集体商标、证明商标，而且应当保证使用集体商标、证明商标的商品符合使用管理规则的品质要求；《规定》还增加了含地名商标的注册和正当使用规定，明确标志应具有显著特征，便于识别，且不能损害社会公共利益。
资料来源：国知局 2024-01-02
新闻链接：https://www.cnipa.gov.cn/art/2024/1/2/art_3323_189480.html
https://www.cnipa.gov.cn/art/2024/1/2/art_3324_189481.html
Beijing Intellectual Property Court Concludes Copyright Infringement Action Involving NFT Digital Collections
Date: 11 January 2024
On 11 January 2024, the Beijing Intellectual Property Court resolved a copyright infringement dispute relating to NFT digital collections. An NFT digital collection is a collection of individual non-fungible cryptographic tokens issued by an artist.
The case involved the artwork 'Poetry of Jia Dao' by renowned painter Fan Zeng, which the Defendant company had, without permission, converted into an NFT digital collection and offered for sale on its WeChat public account. Fan Zeng brought an action for copyright infringement, seeking orders for cessation of the infringement and compensation for economic loss and rights protection expenses.
In the initial ruling, the Court found that the Defendant company had infringed Fan Zeng's right of information network dissemination, and ordered it and its sole shareholder, Wang, to jointly compensate Fan Zeng RMB 330,731.1 (approx. US$ 46,000) for economic loss and RMB 20,000 (approx. $3,000) for rights protection expenses. Subsequently, the Defendants appealed to the Beijing Intellectual Property Court.
During the appeal, the Court confirmed that Fan Zeng's signature and inscription established his ownership of the copyright in the painting 'Poetry of Jia Dao.' It concluded that the Defendant company's use of the painting on its Wechat public account, and the creation and unauthorized sale of an NFT collection based on the copyrighted painting, infringed Fan Zeng's rights to information network dissemination and reproduction. Specifically, the Defendant company had reproduced the painting in articles posted on its WeChat public account and displayed it within its App, thereby violating Fan Zeng's right to disseminate the painting on the information network. Furthermore, it had uploaded a duplicate of the painting onto the back-end server of its App, which constituted an act of reproduction under copyright law. As a result, the Beijing Intellectual Property Court dismissed the appeals from the company and Wang and upheld the original judgment.
Source: Beijing Intellectual Property Court, 2024-01-11
https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/gz-x0TRBnWCFVz1bB8l9NA
北京知识产权法院审结一起涉NFT数字藏品的著作权侵权纠纷案
日期：2024年1月11日
2024年1月11日，北京知识产权法院审结一起涉NFT数字藏品的著作权侵权纠纷案，其中，案情详细内容如下：
某公司未经允许在微信公众号上发布了知名画家范曾的作品《贾岛诗意》，并将其制成NFT数字藏品进行销售。范曾认为该公司侵犯了他的著作权，并要求停止侵权行为，并要求赔偿经济损失和维权合理开支。
一审法院认定该公司侵害了范曾的信息网络传播权，并判决该公司及其唯一股东王某连带赔偿范曾经济损失330731.1元和维权合理开支20000元。然而，该公司及王某对一审判决不服，向北京知识产权法院提起了上诉。
二审中，北京知识产权法院认为，通过范曾的题字署名和钤印可证明，该画作《贾岛诗意》的著作权属于范曾。该公司未经许可将该画作制成NFT藏品并售卖，侵害了范曾的信息网络传播权及复制权。具体来看，该公司在公众号刊登文章时使用了画作《贾岛诗意》作为配图，并在其App上展示了该画作，这些行为侵犯了范曾对画作的信息网络传播权。此外，该公司将画作《贾岛诗意》的复制件上传至其App后台服务器，形成了以服务器为物质载体的作品复制件，这属于著作权法上的复制行为。同时，涉案公众号和App的运营者为该公司，而非王某。因此，该公司应承担侵权责任。北京知识产权法院据此驳回了该公司和王某的上诉，维持原判。
资料来源：北京知识产权法院 2024-01-11
新闻链接：https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/gz-x0TRBnWCFVz1bB8l9NA
The High People's Court of Guangdong Province Concludes First Unfair Competition Action Involving Data Scraping (use of a computer program to extract data from output generated by another program)
Date: 18 January 2024
On 16 January, 2024, the High People's Court of Guangdong Province made a second instance ruling in an unfair competition action brought by Weimeng Company against Jian Yixun Company.
The case involved the unauthorized use of server APIs (application program interfaces) to acquire data for resale transactions. It was the first time a claim of this kind had been made. Weimeng Company, the operator of the Sina Weibo platform, accused Jian Yixun Company of illegally accessing Weibo servers' APIs to extract and store a significant amount of backend data, subsequently selling it to a third party through its iDataAPI website.
The Intermediate People's Court of Shenzhen in Guangdong Province had found that Jian Yixun Company's conduct amounted to unfair competition and ordered it to pay compensation of RMB 20 million (approx. US$ 2.3 million) and issue a statement of apology. Dissatisfied with the initial ruling, Jian Yixun Company appealed to the High People's Court of Guangdong Province.
In the second instance decision, the High People's Court dismissed the appeal and found in favour of Weimeng Company. It determined that Jian Yixun Company's actions, the unauthorized scraping and resale of Weibo backend data, infringed the legitimate rights of Weimeng Company and disrupted the competitive order in the data market, severely harming the interests of both Weimeng Company and its consumers. Consequently, the Court dismissed the appeal and affirmed the original judgment.
Source: The High People's Court of Guangdong Province, 2024-01-18
https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/7JYRdmCHWlJcB258oo03bA
广东省高级人民法院审结国内首例涉数据抓取交易不正当竞争纠纷案
日期：2024-01-18
2024年1月16日，微梦公司诉简亦迅公司及其深圳分公司不正当竞争纠纷案在广东省高级人民法院二审宣判，此案为首例非法调用服务器API接口获取数据从而进行转卖交易的案件。原告微梦公司是新浪微博平台经营者，其指控被告简亦迅公司非法调用微博服务器向用户端传输数据的API（应用程序编程接口），抓取并存储大量微博后台数据，并通过其经营的iDataAPI网站对外销售。深圳市中级人民法院一审认定简亦迅公司构成不正当竞争，判令简亦迅公司赔偿微梦公司经济损失2000万元及相应维权合理费用、刊登声明消除影响。简亦迅公司不服一审判决，向广东省高级人民法院提起上诉。
广东省高级人民法院经审理认为，微梦公司对其依法持有的微博数据享有合法利用并获得经济利益的权利，简亦迅公司通过不断变换IP地址、微博用户账号等方式向微博服务器发出数据请求，调取其本无权调用的大量微博后台数据，并予以直接转卖获利，此行为扰乱了数据市场竞争秩序，严重损害了微梦公司和消费者合法权益，构成不正当竞争行为，驳回起诉，维持原判。
来源：广东省高级人民法院，2024-01-18
新闻链接：https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/7JYRdmCHWlJcB258oo03bA
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