New provisions for trademark applications in China – Selecting the right classes

New Provisions from Supreme People's Court

On 10 January 2017, China's Supreme People's Court promulgated the Provisions on Several Issues concerning the Trial of Administrative Cases Involving Trademark Right Approval and Confirmation (the "Provisions", effective 1 March 2017). Article 32 of the Provisions sets forth a clear rule that could impact the protection of foreign brands in an adverse way:

In the case where a prior user claims that an applicant applies for registration of its trademark (which has been used by the prior user and has a certain influence) on the goods that are not similar to its own goods, and this violates Article 32 of the PRC Trademark Law, the people's court does not support such claim.