Supreme People's Court Seeks Public Comments on
Judicial Interpretations of Determination of Well-Known Trademark

The Supreme People's Court announced on Nov. 12, 2008, "the Interpretations on Several Issues of Application of Law Concerning Determination and Protection of a Well-known Trademark in the trial of Civil Dispute Cases of Infringement of Trademark Right" (the draft) and invited the public to comment on the draft.

According to the draft, the people's court shall not determine whether or not an involved trademark is a well-known one in the following civil dispute cases:

A civil dispute case in which the establishments of the act accused for infringement of trademark right and of unfair competition is not based on the fact that the trademark is well-known;

A civil dispute case in which the act accused for infringement of trademark right and of unfair competition is not established because the act does not comply with the requirements of other laws.

Under the draft, where the people's court prohibits the defendant from using a trademark that is identical with or similar to the plaintiff's registered well-known trademark on a different or dissimilar kind of goods, the court should consider the distinctiveness of the well-known trademark, the degree of recognition of the well-known trademark to the relevant public in respect of the accused infringing goods.

The deadline for public comments is on December 12, 2008.