Our news on intellectual property

Today comes into effect the Fourth Amendment to China’s Trademark Law which was passed on 23 April 2019. The changes should help in improving damages and measures of anti-counterfeiting and combating bad faith trademark applications. According to Article 4, “malicious trademark applications which are not for the purpose of use shall be rejected”. This new intent-to-use requirement is a major step in dealing with the issue of trademark squatting. This requirement already exists in other jurisdictions like in the US. In Europe, it might soon come on the table too. In a dispute between Sky and Skykick, the Advocate General recently gave an opinion in favor of considering the trademark owner’s intent to use the mark so as to avoid unjustified monopolies which prevent competition. This matter is pending before the Court of Justice of the EU for a much awaited preliminary ruling in the coming months.