The European Patent Office (EPO) and the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) are pleased to announce the next phase in their joint Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) pilot project. Starting 1 December 2024, Chinese applicants designating the EPO as their International Search Authority (ISA) will be able to pay their search fees through the CNIPA to the EPO in Renminbi (Chinese Yuan), offering greater convenience.

By choosing the EPO as their ISA, applicants gain accelerated access to European patent protection. Additionally, phase two maintains key advantages, such as a 75% reduction in the examination fee when requesting international preliminary examination under PCT Chapter II with the EPO. No supplementary European search or translation of the PCT application are required when entering the European phase, saving both time and costs.

The pilot's capacity is limited to 3,000 applications per year, ensuring that abroad range of applicants can continue to take advantage of these benefits.

Attachment: English version of the EPO-CNIPA Joint Communiqué

(Source: website of the CNIPA)

A trademark registrant has an obligation to use its registered trademark and may clean up, by voluntary cancellation, the idle trademarks under its name, which will no longer be used, toto release trademark resources further and stimulate the market vitality. In order to help business entities understand and properly use the trademark cancellation procedures, the China National Intellectual Property Administration has made coordinated efforts to establish the Guidelines.

Attachment of the full text: Guidelines on Trademark Cancellation Procedures

(Source: website of the CNIPA)

In order to help business entities understand the relevant legal provisions and process flows of the filing of trademark licenses, to guide them in following regulations to promptly apply for filing and submit appropriate filing materials, to clarify the force of the trademark license, and to prevent improper acts of trademark licensing that cause confusion and misunderstanding, or produce other adverse impacts, or trigger disputes over rights, the China National Intellectual Property Administration has made coordinated efforts to establish the Guidelines.

Attachment of the full text: Guidelines on the Trademark License Filing Procedures

(Source: website of the CNIPA)

In order to improve the efficiency of trademark examination and trial and further provide convenience for applicants, the Trademark Office regularly updates the names of acceptable goods and services that are not included in the Similar Goods and Services Table. The names of acceptable goods and services for the fourth quarter have been released in the trademark search column of the website of the Trademark Office and the online trademark service system, and online inquiry and application services are available to the applicants.

Trademark Office

November 11, 2024

(Source: Trademark Office of the CNIPA)

Following a joint decision by the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) and the Intellectual Property Office of New Zealand (IPONZ), the CNIPA-IPONZ Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) pilot program will commence on 1 November 2024 for the duration of two years and ending on 31 October 2026.

Procedures to File a Request to the CNIPA (China National Intellectual Property Administration) for Patent Prosecution Highway Pilot Program between the CNIPA and the IPONZ (Intellectual Property Office of New Zealand) (English version).pdf

Procedures to File a Request to the IPONZ (Intellectual Property Office of New Zealand) for Patent Prosecution Highway Pilot Program between the CNIPA and the IPONZ (English version).pdf

(Source: website of the CNIPA)

Case Brief

Liqui-Moly Gesellschaft Mit Bescherankter Hfatung ("LIQUI MOLY") is the owner of the trademark No. G803684 " ", trademark No. G567461 "LIQUI MOLY", and trademark No. 4973900 "力魔". The defendant Liquid Power Lubricant (Zhuhai) Co., Ltd. ("LIQUID POWER") produces and sells lubricating oils, engine oils, and other products with the logos " ", " ", and " ". The first instance court, after examination, ascertained the following: the lubricating oil products bearing the alleged infringing logos " ", " ", and " ", which were produced by LIQUID POWER and Zhuhai Makhop Technology Co., Ltd. ("Makhop") and sold by LIQUID POWER and Guangdong Tianchen Trading Co., Ltd. ("Tianchen"), infringed upon the exclusive rights of LIQUI MOLY in registered trademarks; LIQUID POWER's acts of using the elements such as the German national flag and "GERMAN TECHNOLOGY" on engine oils and lubricating oils and conducting publicity campaigns constituted acts of unfair competition through false publicity under Article 8.1 of the Anti-Unfair Competition Law. The judgment was awarded as follows: LIQUID POWER, Tianchen, and Makhop shall immediately stop their acts of infringing upon the exclusive rights of LIQUI MOLY in registered trademarks; LIQUID POWER shall immediately stop the acts of unfair competition; and LIQUID POWER shall compensate LIQUI MOLY for the economic losses and reasonable costs totaling 700,000 yuan, with Makhop bearing the joint and several liability for satisfaction to the limit of 300,000 yuan and Tianchen bearing the joint and several liability for satisfaction to the limit of 250,000 yuan.

Makhop was not satisfied with the first instance judgment, defending that it shall not be liable for compensation as a manufacturer. Makhop filed an appeal with the Zhongshan Intermediate People's Court of Guangdong Province, requesting the court to issue a new judgment that Makhop should not bear the joint and several liability for satisfaction or that the amount of joint and several liability for compensation to be assumed by Makhop should be lowered.

Determination of the second instance court

When accepting the filling commission from LIQUID POWER, Makhop was already aware of the bottles and cans of the lubricating oils and engine oils printed with the infringed logos provided by LIQUID POWER. The trademarks " ", " ", and "力魔" have been used by LIQUI MOLY for a long time and hold great popularity and reputation. As a specialized lubricating oil processing enterprise incorporated in 2007 with a registered capital of up to 75,600,000 yuan, Makhop is a large-scale manufacturer with a high level of expertise. Therefore, Makhop was supposed to be aware of the above trademarks of LIQUI MOLY, and instead accepted the commission from LIQUID POWER to fill the bottles and cans of the lubricant oils and engine oils printed with the above infringed logos, which constituted joint infringement with LIQUID POWER. Makhop shall bear the joint and several liability for satisfaction for the acts of infringement. The first instance court judged that LIQUID POWER should compensate LIQUI MOLY for the economic losses and reasonable costs totaling 700,000 yuan, and judged that Makhop should bear the joint and several liability for satisfaction to the limit of 300,000 yuan. Taking into overall account the acts and scale of infringement by LIQUID POWER and Makhop, the roles of respective parties, and other factors in the present case, the Zhongshan Intermediate People's Court held that the amount of joint and several liability for satisfaction in the first instance judgment was reasonable and should be upheld, and issued a judgment of rejecting the appeal and affirming the original judgment.

Case Brief

The plaintiff, Liqui-Moly Gesellschaft Mit Bescherankter Hfatung, is an internationally renowned brand of automotive lubricating oils and additives. The engine oils under the "LIQUI MOLY" and "力魔" brands owned by the plaintiff, starting around 1957-1960, have consistently ranked among the top in the European and global markets for vehicle additives, lubricating oils, and car maintenance. The engine oils, lubricating oils, and other products under the "LIQUI MOLY" and "力魔" brands owned by the plaintiff entered the Chinese market in 2005 and have enjoyed high popularity after years of continuous use and promotion. Meanwhile, the plaintiff, LIQUI MOLY, also has registered a number of trademarks "LIQUI MOLY", "力魔", and " " in Class 1 and Class 4 and other categories of groups for the manufacture and operation of products within its core business scope.

The defendants HE X-qian, LIN X-xiang, and HE X-peng, were immediate family members, i.e., mother and son, as well as mother and daughter, and with a common consensus and deliberate assignment of work, they carried out the acts of infringement and unfair competition such as trademark squatting, distorted use of registered trademarks, and false publicity. The details are as follows:

I. Trademark squatting

On October 9, 2010 and August 7, 2014, LIN X-xiang applied for trademark No. 15112414   and trademark No. 8723418  , respectively; on October 21, 2011 and November 28, 2015, the above two trademarks were approved for registration, respectively; on August 30, 2018, LIN X-xiang licensed the use of the above trademarks to the defendant Zhejiang XX Limo Company (the legal representative and actual controller of the company is LIN X-xiang's son, HE X-peng); and on November 13, 2021 and December 31, 2021, LIN X-xiang further transferred the above two trademarks to her daughter, HE X-qian. Finally, the two squatted trademarks, after the trial by the Beijing High People's Court in January 2024, were invalidated on the absolute grounds of "acquiring registration by any other improper means" under Article 44.1 of the Trademark Law.

II. The defendant group, with the common consensus and the deliberate assignment of work, continually produced and sold the alleged filter products and conducted acts of unfair competition such as false publicity.

HE X-qian, the daughter of LIN X-xiang, incorporated the Limo XX Commercial Firm (a self-employed business) in Yan'an Road, Tianshan District, Urumqi on November 27, 2014, and received investigation by the Market Supervision and Administration Bureau for selling filters that infringed on brands such as TOYOTA in 2017. Later in 2019, HE X-qian, in the name of the foregoing self-employed business, participated in the Tatarstan International Automotive Spare Parts Exhibition in Russia, and displayed and promoted the alleged infringing filter products in the present case at the exhibition. With regard to this matter, the plaintiff, Liqui-Moly Gesellschaft Mit Bescherankter Hfatung, sent a lawyer's letter to HE X-qian, solemnly demanding an immediate cessation of the related acts of infringement. Without any reply, HE X-qian, in the course of the trial of the present case, continued to sell the alleged infringing filter products at her business premise, Limo XX Commercial Firm in Yan'an Road, Tianshan District, and prominently displayed the alleged infringing logos on the storefront. In addition, as early as September 22, 2016, HE X-qian also had applied for a copyright registration certificate for the alleged infringing logo   as a work of art.

HE X-peng, the son of LIN X-xiang, incorporated Zhejiang XX Limo Automobile Parts Co., Ltd. (a sole proprietorship of natural person) on August 24, 2018, of which HE X-peng acted as the legal representative, executive director, manager, and actual controller. The foregoing company was engaged in the production, sales, and export of the alleged infringing filter products, which products were sold in both online (such as 1688 stores) and offline forms and exported to Kazakhstan and other countries and regions. Meanwhile, the company committed acts of false publicity, such as "German brand" and "German quality", to attach itself to the goodwill of LIQUI MOLY, and was the entity directly using the alleged infringing logos in the present case. In January 2022, following a complaint from the plaintiff, Zhejiang XX Limo Automobile Parts Co., Ltd. was administratively penalized by the Jinhua Market Supervision and Administration Bureau for infringing upon the exclusive rights of Liqui-Moly Gesellschaft Mit Bescherankter Hfatung in the authorized trademarks and goods involved in the case. The plaintiff concurrently filed a civil lawsuit with the Jinhua Intermediate People's Court to seek remedy against the defendant group's acts of online and offline infringement and unfair competition.

III. Civil judicial remedy

The first instance court, after the trial, held that the defendant Zhejiang XX Limo Automobile Parts Co., Ltd. constituted an infringement on the plaintiff's exclusive rights in the authorized trademarks involved in the case and constituted the acts of unfair competition, such as false publicity, against the plaintiff's trade name. However, the first instance court further held that the evidence as submitted was insufficient to prove that LIN X-xiang, HE X-qian, and Zhejiang XX Limo Automobile Parts Co., Ltd. committed the alleged acts of infringement and unfair competition by achieving the common consensus and assuming different work assigned to them. Ultimately, the first instance judgment was issued that Zhejiang XX Limo Automobile Parts Co., Ltd. shall bear an infringement compensation liability of 300,000 yuan for the alleged acts of infringement and unfair competition (the ruling on cessation of infringement is omitted).

The plaintiff was not satisfied with the judgment and thus appealed to the Zhejiang Provincial High People's Court. After the trial, the Zhejiang Provincial High People's Court issued a new judgment that LIN X-xiang, HE X-qian, and Zhejiang XX Limo Automobile Parts Co., Ltd. constituted joint infringement and should bear the joint and several liability, and further made a new judgment to increase the compensation amount determined in the original judgment. The Zhejiang Provincial High People's Court fully supported the claim by Liqui-Moly Gesellschaft Mit Bescherankter Hfatung for economic losses and reasonable expenditures of 1,200,000 yuan, and He X-xiang and Lin X-qian should bear the joint and several liability for 1,000,000 yuan thereof for their joint acts of trademark infringement.

Typical Significance

The satisfactory conclusion of the present case not only signifies that the plaintiff has successfully invalidated the trademarks maliciously squatted by the defendants, but also indicates that the plaintiff has achieved a full victory in its efforts to defend its legitimate rights and interests by exhausting all effective remedies at both the administrative and judicial levels.

From October 19 to 22, the 2024 International Association for the Protection of Intellectual Property (hereinafter referred to as "AIPPI") World Congress was grandly held in Hangzhou. Unitalen attached great importance to this congress and sent a powerful delegation. The three Vice Presidents, LI Deshan, LI Yang, and WANG Yanjiang, acting as the direct leaders of the delegation, and several partners and relevant staff participated in the prestigious event on all fronts.

During the congress, Vice President LI Deshan, as a director of the AIPPI China, was invited to attend the Presidents' Council Dinner and participated in the Executive Committee Plenary Meeting, voting for various resolutions of AIPPI. Attorney ZHANG Yazhou represented China in the discussion and formulation process of the resolution concerning malicious litigation. After thorough discussion and voting procedures, the relevant draft resolutions became one of the core outcomes of the congress. Unitalen delegation actively participated in multiple seminars and various activities and engaged in extensive exchanges with legal and intellectual property experts from around the world, further strengthening professional cooperation and business connections with intellectual property lawyers and organizations from other countries.

On October 29, 2024, the Fifth China-Finland Committee for Innovative Business Cooperation Meeting, hosted by the Ministry of Commerce of the People's Republic of China and the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment of the Republic of Finland, was grandly held in the Great Hall of the People. Vice President of PRC, HAN Zheng, and Finnish President Alexander Stubb attended the meeting.

Unitalen Attorneys At Law, as a renowned intellectual property service agency in China and Finland, and Finnish Kolster Oy Ab Law Firm participated in the agreement execution event as the sole pair of intellectual property service agencies invited to the meeting. Senior Partner of Unitalen, Attorney PAN Wei, and CEO of Kolster Law Firm, Mr. Timo HELOSUO, attended the event and officially executed a bilateral cooperation agreement.

Recently, the internationally authoritative intellectual property media World Intellectual Property Review (referred to as WIPR) released the 2024 WIPR Leaders list, selecting globally leading firms and individuals in the field of intellectual property. Unitalen Attorneys At Law, with its outstanding professional strength and high recognition in the industry, has received multiple honors and has been rated as the "Highly Recommended Firm" in the field of patent non-litigation, the "Outstanding Firm" as the highest title in the field of trademark non-litigation, and the "Highly Recommended Firm" in the field of trademark litigation. Vice President LI Deshan was selected as the "Highly Recommended Individual" in the field of patent non-litigation, and partner, Attorney Ray Lei Zhao, was on the "Outstanding Individuals" list in the field of trademark non-litigation.

Recently, the "2024 China Enterprise Intellectual Property Development Summit Forum", hosted by the China Enterprise Intellectual Property Development Salon, was grandly held in Shenzhen. At the forum, the list of intellectual property service agencies recommended by the China Enterprise Intellectual Property Development Salon was released, and Unitalen Attorneys At Law was honorably included in the list of "Patent Application and Validation Service Agencies" and the list of "Trademark Application and Validation Service Agencies"!