Originally published 21st July 2017
In February 2017, the China Trademark Review & Adjudication Board (TRAB) supported the trademark invalidation action raised by a US company and decided the registration of the trademark "DROPCAM & Chinese characters" to be invalid. In this case, the TRAB recognized the Petitioner's trademark in China, which had no actual business operation in China, to have a significant degree of influence in China due to the relevant mass Chinese media reports, and accordingly found that the disputed trademark constituted a rush registration of the Petitioner's trademark "in prior use and with a significant degree of influence in China", and thereby decided that the disputed trademark shall be invalidated per Article 32 of the PRC Trademark Law.
This is a breakthrough for the TRAB since the Trademark Law proposes that the Petitioner's trademark should be used in China prior to the filing of the disputed trademark. This case demonstrates the TRAB's flexibility and proactive attitude towards preventing malicious trademark filings, which should be welcomed by overseas trademark owners whose trademarks have not entered into the China market but have wide media exposure in China.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.