How to Legally and Properly License Trademarks in China ?

The trademark license, as one of the means of using trademarks, has, in practice, encountered many unexpected disputes due to illegal and improper use. How then should one legally and properly license trademarks? And, what may benefits will the rights holder gain after going through the administrative procedures? This essay summarizes the author’s opinions on these issues.

I. How to make the trademark license record

(By Albert Chen) According to the Measures for Recording Trademark Licensing Contracts (“Measures”), the rights holder, either the owner of the trademark or the licensee, or the trademark agency representing these parties shall apply for recordation of the trademark license. If the licensors are foreigners or foreign companies, however, the record must be handled by trademark agencies. In the application, the applicant shall submit the licensing contract recordation application, a duplicate of the licensing contract, and a copy of the trademark certificate. If the documents are in foreign languages, translation shall also be provided.

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What Receives Protection as a Trade Secret in China?

By Albert Chen

In an essay posted several days ago, we discussed how infringing another’s trade secret is a kind of unfair competition. Although the Anti Unfair Competition Law contains a definition of trade secret in principle, this definition is not very detailed, and there might still be a fair number of differences between understanding and actual practice. Today’s essay will share the author’s research and analysis on whether Chinese law contains any further regulations on the term “trade secret.”

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Introduction to the China Patent Exploitation License Contract Record System

Recently, our lawyers are consulted for the necessity and attentive point of patent exploitation license record, and as a professional patent agency qualified by the administration, DeBund Law Offices provides the service of application of the license contract record for the global client in China. Today we will introduce the system of the paten exploitation license contract record in China.

I. The function of the administrative record

1. The information disclosure

For the data coming from the patent exploitation license record, the State Intellectual Property Organization (“SIPO”) has established a special data base, which is available for public check. And in addition, for the registered data, SIPO also makes the record on Patent Register and will also make a publication on the Patent Gazzete.

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