Dec 29, 2021 | China and Hong Kong : Nice Classification 11th ed version 2022
China and Hong Kong : Nice Classification 11th ed version 2022 Nice Classification 11th ed version 2022 will become effective in China and Hong Kong on 1st January 2022, confirmed by China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) and the Intellectual Property Department of Hong Kong. The “similar goods and services table” used in China practice has been revised to adopt the changes.
Dec 29, 2021 | The Advantages of Filing Hong Kong Trademark Opposition in the First Place
The Advantages of Filing Hong Kong Trademark Opposition in the First Place: Trademark Protection System The system for protecting trademark rights in Hong Kong is based on use of marks and registration of marks. While an entity is not required to register its trademark in order to protect it, it is always recommended to do so, so as to save the time and effort in enforcing and protecting the trademark rights. Trademark Opposition System On the other hand, it is... MORE
Dec 29, 2021 | Colour trademark
Colour trademark We can see all kinds of trademarks in our daily lives. Each trademark represents an idea with a unique meaning that the other company wants to deliver. However, you may ask: why some trademarks are in black and white, and some are in coloured? Today, we are going to discuss the issue of colour of trademarks. Colour of a trademark is of considerable significance in trademark application since the colour of trademark also represents the “distinctiveness” of the... MORE
Nov 30, 2021 | Consultation for updating the copyright regime
Hong Kong : Consultation for updating the copyright regime The Hong Kong government has on 24 November 2021 launched a 3-month public consultation period on updating Hong Kong’s copyright regime, proposing to reuse the previous bill shelved in 2016 as the basis and starting point. The key proposal cover the following 5 areas:- 1. Giving copyright owners a technology neutral exclusive communication right to communicate their works through electronic transmission; 2. Introducing criminal offences and sanctions against infringement of the... MORE
Nov 30, 2021 | First court case for Drug Patent Linkage
China : First court case for Drug Patent Linkage The Japanese drug manufacturer Chugai Pharmaceutical sued a local China company for patent infringement at the IP court in Beijing, China, seeking to stay the government approval process for marketing a generic drug of the Eldecalcitol same effect. It is the first case after China regulating the Article 76 of the 4th Amendment of Patent Law effective 1 June 2021, whereby a “dual track” early resolution mechanism is implemented for resolving... MORE
Nov 30, 2021 | There are a wide variety of trade mark classes, how should I choose?
There are a wide variety of trade mark classes, how should I choose? In Taiwan Trade Mark application, class 1 to class 34 belong to “goods”, class 35 to class 45 belong to “services”. Such information could be found in the Taiwan Intellectual Property Office Search System. Nonetheless, which classes are the ones you need the most or the closest to what you want? Firstly, as companies and enterprises who wish to apply trade mark or persons who want to... MORE
Nov 28, 2021 | Criteria for Assessing the Similarity of Trademarks
Criteria for Assessing the Similarity of Trademarks Nowadays, the trademark office is increasingly strict in examining new trademarks applications. According to Article 30 of the current Trademark Law (2019), where an application for trademark registration does not comply with the relevant provisions of the Trademark Law, or is identical with or similar to another person’s trademark registered under the Law which, after examination, has been preliminarily deemed to offer the same type of or similar commodities to customers, the Trademark... MORE
Nov 28, 2021 | Trademark assignment
Trademark assignment If you want to grant a licence of use to others for business purposes or transfer the trademark from your company to yourself after being granted the trademark rights, you need a trademark assignment. Though it is generally acknowledged that trademark right can be shared with others through different ways and that you may not continue your career in this company, as a business owner, you may naturally want to protect your trademark, which has a considerable value.... MORE
Nov 11, 2021 | Specification of goods or services
For registration of a trade mark, there must be a specification of goods or services intended to be registered by the registrant, which delimits the registrant’s rights. Therefore, when it comes to the question of where there is infringement of such rights, the specification also serves a signpost. To maximize the registrant’s ability to sue for infringement, it is advisable for the registrant to make the specification as wide as possible. Note however that there are certain limitations within which... MORE
Oct 22, 2021 | Hong Kong : Nu Pharm Ltd v Champ Group Ltd & Ors [2021] HKCFI 751 – an illustration as…
Hong Kong : Nu Pharm Ltd v Champ Group Ltd & Ors [2021] HKCFI 751 – an illustration as to how disputes over discovery of unredacted documents may properly be resolved. Nu Pharm is famous for selling a variety of food supplements and nutritional products. They sued the Defendants for trademark infringement and passing off for supplying medicinal and health products under a similar trademark. The parties made interim applications for specific discovery. One of the issues that the Court... MORE
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