Interpretation by the Supreme People's Court of Issues Relating to Jurisdiction over and Scope of Application of Law in the Adjudication of Trademark Cases

(Adopted on 25 December 2001 at the 1203rd meeting of the Adjudication Committee of the Supreme People's Court, Legal Interpretation (2002) No. 1, promulgated on 9 January 2002 and enforced on 21 January 2002)

In order to ensure the proper trial of trademark cases, according to the regulations in the Civil Procedure Law of the People's Republic of China and Administrative Procedure Law of the People's Republic of China, the Supreme People's Court interprets the following legal regulations concerning the jurisdiction and the applicable laws in the trial of the trademark cases:

Article 1

The People's Court accepts the following trademark cases:

1. Cases in which the party concerned refuses to accept the reconsideration decision or the ruling by the Trademark Review Committee of the Administrative Office for Industry and Commerce in the State Council (hereinafter referring to as the Trademark Review Committee)

2. Cases in which the party concerned refuses to accept the administrative action concerning the related trademark by the Administrative Office for Industry and Commerce

3. Cases concerning trademark dispute

4. Cases concerning the infringement of the trademark

5. Cases concerning the transfer of the trademark contract

6. Cases concerning the usage of the trademark license contact

7. Cases concerning the application for the cease of the infringement of the trial

8. Cases concerning the preservation of the assets before the trial

9. Cases concerning the preservation of the evidence before the trial

10. Other trademark cases

Article 2

As for the first-trial cases defined in Section 1 of Article 1 in this legal interpretation, the Beijing High Court, based upon the authorization of the Supreme People’s Court, will entrust the Intermediate People’s Court within its jurisdiction with those cases.

As for the first-trial cases defined in Section 2 of Article 1 in this legal interpretation, the jurisdiction will be decided according to the related regulations in the administrative procedure law.

The first trial of civil trademark dispute cases should fall under the jurisdiction of the people’s court over the intermediate level.

Every high court, according to the real situation under its jurisdiction, with the approval of the Supreme People’s Court, can designate one or two grassroots courts in relatively large cities to conduct the first trial of civil trademark dispute cases.

Article 3

The people’s court should accept the case if the registered trademark holder or the parties concerned have requested the Administrative Office for Industry and Commerce to deal with the infringement of the trademark while filing a lawsuit to the people’s court for damage compensation for the infringement of the trademark.

Article 4

The people's court should accept the case if the party concerned refuses to accept a reconsideration decision or ruling which is made after the implementation of the amended Trademark Law by the Trademark Review Committee, concerning a case which was accepted by the Committee before the implementation of the amended Trademark Law.

Article 5

Except for other provisions concerning this legal interpretation, as for those cases that happened before the implementation of the amended Trademark Law but still fall under the categories of Article 4, Article 5, Article 8, Section 1 of Article 9, (2), (3) and (4) of Section 1 of Article 10, Section 2 of Article 10, Article 11, Article 13, Article 15, Article 16, Article 24, Article 25 and Article 31 of the amended Trademark Law, if the party concerned refuses to accept the reconsideration or ruling that is made after the implementation of the amended Trademark Law by the Trademark Review Committee, the court should review it according to the corresponding regulations in the amended Trademark Law. In addition to the above situations, review should be conducted according the corresponding regulations in the old Trademark Law.

Article 6

If the party concerned refuses to accept the ruling by the Trademark Review Committee and files a lawsuit to the people’s court concerning a case of infringement of trademark which had been filed more than one year before the implementation of the amended Trademark Law, it should be dealt with according to the regulations in Section 2 of Article 27 of the old Trademark Law; if the case was less than one year when the amended Trademark Law took effect, it should be dealt with according to Section 2 and Section 3 of Article 41 of the amended Trademark Law.

Article 7

As for cases concerning the infringement of a trademark which happened before the implementation of the amended Trademark Law, if the registered trademark holder or the parties concerned apply for the ceasing of the infringement of the trademark before the trial or the preservation of the evidence after the implementation of the amended Trademark Law, it should be dealt with according to the regulations in Article 57 and 58 of the amended Trademark Law.

Article 8

As for cases concerning the infringement of the trademark which happened before the implementation of the amended Trademark Law, if the people's court had not made any effective ruling when the amended Trademark Law took effect, it should be dealt with according to Article 56 of the amended Trademark Law.

Article 9

Except for other new provisions concerning this legal interpretation, as for a new case accepted by the people’s court after the implementation of the amended Trademark Law concerning a civil act that happened before the implementation of the amended Trademark Law, it should be dealt with according to the old Trademark Law; if it is concerning a civil act that happened after the implementation of the amended Trademark Law, it should be dealt with according to the new regulations in the amended Trademark Law; if it is concerning a civil act that happened before the implementation of the amended Trademark Law but lasted until the implementation of the new law, it should be dealt with separately according to the corresponding regulations in the old and amended Trademark Law.

Article 10

As for cases accepted by the people's court concerning the infringement of a trademark, if such cases have already been dealt with by the Administrative Office for Industry and Commerce, the people's court should still review the civil dispute facts of the parties concerned.