The State Administration for Industry and Commerce ("SAIC") recently released a draft Opinion Regarding Improving Registration Efficiency and Actively Promoting Reformation of Enterprise Name Registration (the "DRAFT") seeking public review and comment.
The DRAFT lists five (5) major aspects that SAIC would like to
improve regarding enterprise name registration and
administration.
Of particular relevancy to the IP enforcement practice is the
DRAFT's provision of three guidelines as follows on dealing
with complaints against enterprise names:
1. Speeding up the resolution on enterprise name
disputes, by which the DRAFT promotes solving the disputes
over company names through intermediation. If intermediation fails,
the DRAFT requests the local AIC to find the enterprise's name
improper and correct the name by force in due time if
necessary.
2. Dealing with the conflict between enterprise names and
trademarks in accordance with the relevant laws, under
which the DRAFT requires the local AIC to improve the procedure and
system for solving disputes between enterprise names and registered
trademarks or unregistered well-known trademarks according to the
Trademark Law and Anti-Unfair Competition Law. The DRAFT urges the
enterprise registration department of local AICs to cooperate
actively in this regard.
3. Enhance the correction of improper enterprise
names, under which the DRAFT provides that where an
enterprise name is found improper by the AIC but the enterprise
refuses to correct the improper name in due time, the AIC can
publish the unified social credit number of the enterprise in the
National Enterprise Credit Information Publication System and mark
that the enterprise name "XXX" has been found improper,
according to the Provisional Regulations on Enterprise Information
Publicity. After the enterprise corrects the improper name, the AIC
shall publish the name after correction and remove the marks.
We believe the DRAFT is encouraging to the current IP enforcement
practice against registered but infringing enterprise names. The
current AIC's practice on the correction of infringing
enterprise names has been widely criticized due to the low success
rate in finding improper enterprise names and low efficiency in
correcting the names. In the very least the DRAFT encourages local
AICs to find improper enterprise names and provides a method for
these AICs to force the correction when the other side refuses to
cooperate.
2017-04-21
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