CBL’s Introduction:
China’s Supreme Court Rules on trademark and business name disputes, translated here into American English, limit the circumstances in which courts may directly hear infringement cases, often requiring businesses first pursue administrative remedies. Particularly concerning for international businesses are rules restricting lawsuits involving already registered trademarks, and broad judicial powers to issue cease-and-desist orders against business names causing consumer confusion under China’s Antitrust Act.

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(Adopted by the Supreme Court Judicial Committee during the 1444th session on February 18, 2008, and amended by the Supreme Court Decision to Amend 18 Intellectual Property Interpretations Concerning the Application of Law in Patent Infringement Cases (2), adopted during the 1823rd session of the Supreme Court Judicial Committee on December 23, 2020)

The purpose of these Rules is to guide the adjudication of civil actions involving disputes between trademarks or business names and established priority rights under the Civil Code of the People’s Republic of China (hereinafter the “Civil Code”), the Trademark Act of the People’s Republic of China (hereinafter the “Trademark Act”), the Antitrust Act of the People’s Republic of China (hereinafter the “Antitrust Act”), the Civil Procedure Act of the People’s Republic of China (hereinafter the “Civil Procedure Act”), and judicial precedent.

Section 1 Courts shall accept civil actions filed under § 119 of the Civil Procedure Act by plaintiffs alleging infringement of their priority rights, including for copyrights, design patents, and names, through the defendants’ use of words, logos, or other elements in their registered trademarks.

If a plaintiff files suit on the grounds that a defendant’s registered trademark for goods is identical or confusingly similar to a trademark previously registered by the plaintiff, the court shall advise the plaintiff to seek resolution through the appropriate regulatory agency pursuant to § 124(c) of the Civil Procedure Act. However, courts shall accept actions in which the plaintiff alleges that the defendant has used a registered trademark on goods other than those covered in its registration or in a manner that alters its distinctiveness or splits or combines other elements, resulting in a mark identical or confusingly similar to the plaintiff’s trademark.

Section 2 Courts shall accept civil actions filed under § 119 of the Civil Procedure Act if a plaintiff asserts that the defendant’s use of a business name identical or similar to their own business name misleads the consuming public as to the source of the goods, in violation of § 6(b) of the Antitrust Act.

Section 3 Courts shall establish the basis for civil actions involving disputes between trademarks or business names and priority rights based on the plaintiff’s claim for relief, the nature of the civil law relationship, the civil cause of action, and applicable laws.

Section 4 If the defendant’s business name infringes upon the exclusive rights to a registered trademark or constitutes an act of unfair competition, the court may impose civil liability on the defendant as necessary based on the plaintiff’s claim for relief, including by ordering the defendant to cease and desist from any infringing use of the mark.