(Adopted
at the 1203rd Meeting of the Judicial Committee
of the Supreme People's Court on 25 December 2001
and entering into force on 21 January 2002)
The Decision by the Standing Committee of the National
People's Congress on the Amendment of the Trademark
Law of the People's Republic of China (hereinafter
referred to as the Decision on the Amendment of
the Trademark Law) was adopted at the 24th Meeting
of the Standing Committee of the Ninth National
People's Congress, and went into force on 1 December
2001. This Interpretation of the Issues Relating
to the Jurisdiction over and Scope of Application
of Law to the Hearing of Trademark Cases is hereby
made in accordance with the provisions of the Trademark
Law of the People's Republic of China (hereinafter
referred to as the Trademark Law), the Civil Procedure
Law of the People's Republic of China and the Administrative
Procedure Law of the People's Republic of China
(hereinafter referred to as the Administrative Procedure
Law) with a view to duly hearing and judging trademark
cases:
Article 1 The
People's Court accepts following trademark cases:
1. Cases of dissatisfaction with reexamination
decisions or adjudications made by the Trademark
Review and Adjudication Board of the Administrative
Department for Industry and Commerce under the
State Council(TRAB);
2. Cases of dissatisfaction with specific administrative
actions taken by the Administrative Department
for Industry and Commerce in respect of trademarks;
3. Cases of disputes over attribution of exclusive
right to use trademarks;
4. Cases of disputes arising from infringement
of the exclusive right to use trademarks;
5. Cases of contractual disputes over assignment
of the exclusive right to use trademarks;
6. Cases of contractual disputes over trademark
licenses;
7. Cases of application for pre-trial cessation
of infringement of the exclusive right to use
trademarks;
8. Cases of application for pre-trial property
preservation;
9. Cases of application for pre-trial evidence
preservation;
10. Other trademark cases.
Article 2 The
first-instance hearing of cases in Article 1 (1)
of this Interpretation is under the jurisdiction
of the intermediate people's court designated
by the Beijing Municipal Higher People's Court
within its region of jurisdiction in accordance
with the authorization by the Supreme People's
Court.
The jurisdiction over the first-instance hearing
of cases in Article 1 (2) of this Interpretation
is determined according to the relevant provisions
of the Administrative Procedure Law.
The first-instance trademark cases are under the
jurisdiction of an Intermediate People's Court
or a court above.
With the approval of the Supreme People's Court,
the higher people's courts may designate, according
to the practical situation in the region under
their respective jurisdiction, one or two grass-root
People's Court of relatively large cities to hear
civil cases of trademark disputes for first instance.
Article 3 Where
a trademark registrant or an interested party
files with the administrative department for industry
and commerce a request for handling an infringement
of the exclusive right to use the trademark and
institutes proceedings in the People's Court against
an infringement of the exclusive right to use
trademark and for compensation for damages, the
People's Court shall accept the case.
Article 4 Where
an interested party institutes proceedings in
the People's Court out of dissatisfaction with
a reexamination decision or adjudication made
by TRAB after the entry into force of the Decision
of the Amendment of the Trademark Law in respect
of a case accepted thereby before the entry into
force of the Decision of the Amendment of the
Trademark Law, the People's Court shall accept
the case.
Article 5 Except
otherwise provided for in this Interpretation,
the relevant provisions of the newly revised Trademark
Law apply in the examination of cases of administrative
proceedings instituted by interested parties out
of dissatisfaction with reexamination decisions
or adjudications made by TRAB after the entry
into force of the Decision of the Amendment of
the Trademark Law in respect of the circumstances
under Articles 4, 5, 8, 9, paragraph one, 10,
paragraph one (2), (3), and (4), 10, paragraph
two, 11,12, 13, 15, 16, 24, 25 and 31 of the revised
Trademark Law, which arose before the entry into
force of the Decision of the Amendment of the
Trademark Law; cases falling into other circumstances
shall be examined according to the relevant provisions
of the former Trademark Law.
Article 6
Where an interested party institutes proceedings
in the People's Court out of dissatisfaction with
the adjudication by TRAB in respect of a case
of dispute over a trademark which had been registered
for a year or for a longer period of time before
the entry into force of the Decision on the Amendment
of the Trademark Law, the case is handled by applying
the provision of Article 27, paragraph two, of
the former Trademark Law set forth in respect
of the time limit for filing the application;
where a trademark had not been registered for
a year or a longer period of time before the entry
into force of the Decision on the Amendment of
the Trademark Law, the case is handled by applying
the provisions of Article 41, paragraphs two and
three, of the revised Trademark Law set forth
in respect of the time limit for filing the application.
Article 7 Where
in respect of an infringement of the exclusive
right to use trademark taking place before the
entry into force of the Decision on the Amendment
of the Trademark Law, a trademark registrant or
an interested party files an application with
the People's Court for ordering cessation of the
infringing act or for taking the measure of evidence
preservation before instituting proceedings after
the entry into force of the Decision on the Amendment
of the Trademark Law, the provisions of Articles
57 and 58 of the revised Trademark Law shall apply.
Article 8
Where the People's Court had not rendered any
effective judgment at the time of the entry into
force of the Decision on the Amendment of the
trademark Law in respect of the cases of proceedings
instituted against infringements of the exclusive
right to use trademarks taking place before the
entry into force of the Decision on the Amendment
of the Trademark Law, the cases shall be handled
with reference to the provision of Article 56
of the revised Trademark Law.
Article 9 Except
otherwise provided for in this Interpretation,
the provisions of the former Trademark Law apply
to civil cases of trademark disputes involving
civil acts taking place before the entry into
force of the Decision on the Amendment of the
Trademark Law and accepted by the People's Court;
where civil cases arising after the entering into
force of the Decision are involved, the provisions
of the revised Trademark Law shall apply; the
provisions of the former and revised Trademark
Laws apply respectively to civil acts which took
place before and continued after the entry into
force of the Decision on the Amendment of the
Trademark Law.
Article 10 Where
cases of disputes arising from infringements of
the exclusive right to use trademarks accepted
by the People's Court are handled by the administrative
department for industry and commerce, the People's
Court shall conduct the hearing, all the same,
as to the facts involved in the civil disputes
between interested parties.
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