Is it Infringing LV’s Trademark Right when Registering Similar Images as Patented Design?

20130215-周五

(By Albert Chen)  Brief of the case:The Louis Vuitton Company (the “LV Company”) holds the rights to the “LV” trademark in Mainland China, and it registered the trademark “LV” as early as January 15, 1986. At present, the term of protection of the mark has been extended to January 14, 2016. The registered classes for the “LV” trademark include toys, Chinese checkers, Backgammon, golf gloves, etc. On November 13, 2003, Guo filed an application for a patented design called “Mahjong (23)”, and the application was approved and published on July 14, 2004. The published patent includes 5 pictures, which contain the front view, left view, back view, top view and three-dimensional views. Among them, the front view contains an image consisting of the letters “L” and “V.”

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Introduction of China’s Legal System of Trademark Renewal

 Highlight: The first registered trademarks after the promulgation of the trademark law in 1982 will be in the renewal period soon, and most of such trademarks now are owned by foreign invested companies. In this essay, Bridge IP Law Commentary will give our advice and analysis on the trademark renewal.

The system of trademark application was first carried out in China in 1982 with the promulgation of the Trademark Law, by which the period of validity of a trademark registered in China is ten years from the day of approval and can be renewed, otherwise it will be cancelled. Therefore, most first registered trademarks are coming into the renewal period in 2012 or 2013, and among which the trademarks registered by foreign invested companies occupy a higher proportion due to the weak awareness of the trademark of Chinese enterprises then. For this reason, we would like to remind foreign clients to apply for trademark renewal timely during the renewal period and the grace period. Today, our website will introduce and analyze China’s legal system of trademark renewal.

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