IP body firm on preventing trademark abuse

China's top intellectual property regulator said on Tuesday that it has issued warnings about IP infringements related to upcoming sports events in a bid to ensure they unfold smoothly and to protect the public interest.

Since June, the China National Intellectual Property Administration has been running a campaign to crack down on malicious trademark registrations, including some associated with the upcoming Asian Games and Asian Paralympic Games in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, as well as to the 31st FISU World University Games in Chengdu, Sichuan province, according to Hu Wenhui, deputy head of the administration.

Expressing the determination to crack down on malicious trademark registrations, he said that the administration has dealt with 249,000 cases between January and June alone.

Of the total, 204,000 were withdrawn or canceled by applicants, he added.

Malicious trademark registrations are applications that violate the principles of legitimacy and good faith, such as trademark squatting, appropriation and imitation, infringements of prior rights, the misuse of public resources and massive or repeated registrations in bad faith.

"While strengthening reviews of trademark applications, we've also upgraded our information technology to identify malicious registrations from the start and ensure they are not approved," Hu said.

Last year, the administration rejected malicious registration attempts for 3,192 trademarks, including those for La'eeb, the mascot of the FIFA World Cup in Qatar, and Bing DwenDwen, the mascot of the Beijing Winter Olympics.

In 2021, it also rejected applications for trademark registrations using the names of Olympic athletes to protect the name rights of public figures.