Color claims for trademarks should in general be avoided. To be clear, there are situations when claiming color on a trademark registration application makes sense, but these situations are not common. What's more, color claims might create issues in the future, if you stop using your trademark exactly as registered. Claiming a color or colors
China Domain Name Scams If your company has done anything in China (even just sending someone there to meet with a supplier), you have probably received a somewhat official-looking email offering to “help” you stop someone from taking your domain registry in China or maybe somewhere else in the world. Picture this: Your company finally
Well-known trademarks enjoy protection under Chinese law. This protection is the closest China comes to protecting unregistered trademarks. However, the circumstances under which such protection is afforded are limited, given that the standard for a trademark being considered well-known is exceedingly high. To illustrate just how stringent the standard can be, consider a situation I
I recently read a great article in Politico by Brandon Possin, a U.S. foreign service officer (and friend of my colleague Fred Rocafort) who is currently stationed at the U.S. embassy in Tokyo. Possin also has significant blockchain-related credentials. In U.S. Diplomat to Washington: You’re Becoming Obsolete in One Big Area of Tech Policy, he
Trademark oppositions are proceedings by which parties can formally request the refusal of another party's trademark application. They are a feature of the trademark laws of just about every country, including China and the United States. Though trademark oppositions serve the same purpose in both China and the United States, the contexts in which they
Our International IP lawyers are always preaching how foreign companies must register their trademarks in China if they are going to be doing business in or producing product in China (see, for example, China Trademarks -- Do You Feel Lucky? Do You?). And in most cases, companies should register their trademarks in China now. Right
A trademark registrant in China is not required to use the trademark, but that could soon change. If a draft revision of China's Trademark Law is adopted, registrants may be required to certify their use of their trademark every five years after registration. We have covered other aspects of the proposed law in Draft Revision
You have almost certainly heard by now that there is a massive Chinese spy balloon currently hovering over U.S. airspace in violation of international and U.S. law. Or if you actually believe the CCP, it is merely a weather balloon that went very far off course. 1. China's Spy Balloon Will Worsen China's Relations with
The China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) has published a draft revision of the country's Trademark Law and called for comments from the public. In our first post on the potential implications of the revised law for international brands, we looked at proposed changes to the definition of what constitutes a trademark and the absolute
My law firm often gets calls from companies alleging "a company is selling their product under their trade name on Amazon" and asking us to send a cease and desist letter "right away" to get that company to stop violating their IP. Our typical response is to say it is seldom a good idea to
