Recently Supreme People’s Court published its lists of the Top 10 Cases Involving the Judicial Protection of IP Rights and the Top 50 Typical Cases heard in Chinese courts in 2016.

The appellate case involving the “UL” trademark dispute, in which W&B represented UNIQLO, was included among the 2016 Typical IP Cases in Chinese Courts and the 2016 Top 10 IP Cases in Shanghai Courts. This development represents another victory following the last selection of this case among the 2015 Top 10 Innovative IP Cases in Beijing Courts.

This case underscored the legislative intent of the Trademark Law to encourage the use of trademarks and to incentivize economic development; it also helps to curb the malicious conduct of preemptive trademark registration and the filing of trademark infringement lawsuits on the basis of malicious registrations.

Meanwhile, the administrative dispute concerning the request for invalidating the “UL” trademark, in which W&B represented UNIQLO, was also selected among the Typical Anti-Malicious Trademark Registration Cases Heard by the Beijing Intellectual Property Court. The case is typical in the sense that it clarifies that the following acts -- (i) filing a large number of trademark registrations that go beyond the normal business scope of operations, (ii) registering trademarks for purposes other than actual use, and (iii) filing a large number of registrations of prior trademarks with higher reputation or originality -- will each be deemed an acquisition of trademark registration “through other improper means” that disturbs the order of the trademark registration system, harms the public interest and unjustly expends public resources.

W&B’s litigation team has enjoyed brilliant achievements in being listed on various domestic and international authoritative ranking lists, such as Chambers and LEGALBAND. Through the years, W&B has represented clients in a series of litigation and arbitration cases with significant influence and exemplary value. Among these are new landmark cases for China such as the first trademark infringement case involving the court’s identification of a well-known trademark, the first contractual tort dispute between two foreign parties arising from a sports sponsorship contract, cross-border litigation and arbitration cases involving commercial disputes between domestic and foreign enterprises, and other important cases that have become legal precedents.

Sources: Supreme People’s Court, Shanghai Higher People’s Court, Beijing Intellectual Property Court