The fifth revision of the Trademark Law in China has set off a wave of trademark discussions, and trademark distinctiveness and trademark use are the theoretical cornerstones of the Trademark Law. In order to improve the relevant system, on March 10, 2023, the Forum of Well-known experts on Chinese Intellectual Property Rights, in collaboration with IP Economy, held the fourth session of a series of seminars - trademark distinctiveness and trademark use, and the trademark law improvement. Frank Liu, Chair of the Patent and Innovation Committee of the Quality Brands Protection Committee of the China Association of Enterprises with Foreign Investment (“QBPC”), was invited to participate in the discussion on relevant issues.
As a guest speaker, Frank Liu participated in the discussion on the expression of distinctiveness in legal provisions of the trademark law amendment draft for comments (Article 4 of the draft). Taking the Chen Mahua case as an example, he discussed the connotation and extension of distinctive features (Article 16 of the draft), and expressed his views and proposals for legislation on the “concept of trademark use” in the draft as well as several special scenarios of trademark use, including the registration of other’s trademark as the trade name, OEM processing, trademark use in maintenance and renovation of used goods.
This series of seminars focused on multiple important topics in the fifth revision of the Trademark Law, including the protection of well-known trademarks, the boundaries of trademark protection, legal liability for the infringement of trademark rights, and the rules of malicious registration and prosecution.