Trademarks: In Bad Faith

The number of trademark registrations in China is rapidly increasing. Economic developments, increasing public awareness of the importance of IP protection, the optimised trademark registration procedure and reduced registration costs, are all driving the increase.

Based on information released by the National Intellectual Property Administration, in the first half of 2019 the number of trademark registrations in China was 3.5 million, a year-on-year increase of 67.8%. By the end of June 2019, trademark registrations reached 22.7 million.

Meanwhile, we cannot ignore the problems that come with these: bad-faith registrations aiming at others' well-known trademarks and trademark squatting. The latter is the practice of registering trademarks similar to or identical with others' trademarks—not for use but for gaining profits from the legitimate right owners.