Trademark Law being revised to protect IPs

Chinese lawmakers are carrying out a new round of amendments to the Trademark Law to further strengthen the country's legal framework for intellectual property protection and address emerging challenges in the field.

A draft amendment was submitted for first review at an ongoing session of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, China's top legislature, which is being held in Beijing from Monday to Saturday.

Shen Changyu, head of the China National Intellectual Property Administration, highlighted the importance of the existing Trademark Law in protecting intellectual property and supporting economic growth. He said that by December 2024, China had received 83.52 million trademark registration applications and had 49.78 million valid trademarks, the highest figures in the world.

"With rapid economic and social development, however, new situations and emerging issues have arisen in this sector, such as malicious trademark registration, trademark squatting or hoarding, and infringement,"Shen said, adding that these problems need to be addressed through revisions to the law.

The draft amendment, which contains 84 articles, focuses on tightening oversight over trademark agencies and practitioners, further clarifying standards for identifying malicious registrations and specifying corresponding penalties, Shen said.

In accordance with the proposed amendments, trademark agencies would be required to keep their clients' trade secrets confidential, while industry associations would be tasked with developing self-regulatory norms and disciplinary rules to improve service standards.

If a trademark agency obtains business by forging seals or signatures, or through fraud, deception or defamation of competitors, it could face fines of up to 200,000 yuan ($28,418) in serious cases.

The draft also stipulates that trademark applications not intended for use and which clearly exceed the needs of normal production and business operations will not be registered. Applicants found to have engaged in malicious registration could be fined up to 100,000 yuan.

Malicious trademark registration means applications that violate principles of legitimacy and good faith. It includes trademark squatting, appropriation or imitation, infringement of others' prior rights, misuse of public resources, and mass or repeated registrations made in bad faith.

While strengthening supervision of the trademark sector, Shen said the draft amendment would also streamline review and approval procedures to make the application process more convenient for applicants.

"The revision aims to raise the level of rule of law in intellectual property protection, promote the use of trademarks and drive high-quality economic development,"Shen said. He added that the administration had solicited opinions from various sectors of society, both online and offline, before submitting the draft.