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  • 2019-11-15
  • 3 minutes Read
Several Provisions on Standardizing Application for Trademark Registration will be implemented with effect from 1 Dec. 2019

One of the key amendment aspects is the regulations on the honesty and integrity principle, such as the responsibilities related to the use of trademarks, curbing malicious trademark applications and trademark agencies. In order to better implement those articles, recently, SAIC releases the “Several Provisions on Standardizing Application for Trademark Registration” (the “Provisions”), we have picked out some practical articles for your reference. 1. To deal with circumstances which the application of a trademark has violated the reasons as stipulated in the “Provisions” In the application session, the trademark registration authorities shall reject and refuse to gazette. In the preliminarily…

  • 2019-11-15
  • 4 minutes Read
What are the Differences between a Warehouse Lease Contract and a Warehousing Contract?

Are you confused with the title? If a party leases a warehouse for storage, the two contracts shall state the same thing, and there shall be no difference. However, from the perspective of the nature of a contract, the two contracts have huge differences on the rights and responsibilities, consequences of breach of contract, and the way to defense when there is a dispute. In the “Contract Law”, Chapter 13 stipulates relevant articles on a lease contract, and Chapter 20 stipulates relevant articles on a warehousing contract. A lease contract requires a lessor delivers the warehouse to the lessee who…

  • 2019-11-15
  • 3 minutes Read
Is it Valid to Announce the Internal Rules by Electronic Means?

Company A dissolved the labor contract with Ding, with the reason that Ding had severely violated the “Administrative Measures on Labor Discipline of Company A”, due to Ding’s habitual absenteeism. Ding filed a labor arbitration against Company A. Ding stated that Company A released the internal rules on its official website, the reader had to click the link and download the document, so this was not the way to announce as required by relevant laws. The labor arbitration committee supported Ding’s claim, but both the courts of the first-instance and second-instance rejected Ding’s claim. The “Labor Contract Law” prescribes that…

  • 2019-10-15
  • 3 minutes Read
When is the Employment Relationship with Foreign Employees established?

A Canadian Mr. D was hired by Company W as its General Manager. Both parties signed a labor contract. Later, Company W dissolved the contract. Mr. D filed a lawsuit against Company W and claimed for the economic compensation. The case was reviewed by the first and second trials. Finally, the Guangdong Provincial High People’s Court reheard the case, and determined that the contact was invalid, which means Company W did not have to pay the economic compensation. (The plot has been simplified, for details, please find (2018) Yue Gao Fa Shen Jian Min Ti Zi No.63) Article 7 of…

  • 2019-10-15
  • 4 minutes Read
Setting Other Party’s Trademark as the Search Keyword on Internet

If you type “金夫人” on the search engine Baidu, the first three links show “金夫人GOLDEN LADY” and relevant pictures; the official website of the trademark right owner Company J and its relevant information; and the promotion information with the words as “南京婚纱摄影领军品牌M公司”. Company J filed a lawsuit against Company M and Baidu by claiming that both parties had jointly infringed its trademark right and constituted false propaganda. The similar cases are not rare. More and more companies are using internet for promotion. In order to attract attention, some companies tried to stick a “tag” by using other party’s trademark. If…

  • 2019-10-15
  • 2 minutes Read
Guidelines for Patent Examination (2019) will come into force from 1st Nov. 2019

On 23rd Sep. 2019, SIPO released the newly amended “Guidelines for Patent Examination”, which will come into force from 1st Nov. 2019. The amended version has amended many aspects, among which the amendment on the examination on the design patent related to Graphic User Interfaces (“GUI”) is eye-catching. 1. Requirements on the product’s name The amended version requires the name should indicate GUI’s main purpose and the products to which it is applied. Generally, there must be keywords of “graphical user interface” and a key word of “dynamic” shall be contained in the product name of the dynamic GUI. 2.…

  • 2019-09-15
  • 3 minutes Read
The “Guiding Opinions on Strengthening Industrial Internet Security” (the “Guiding Opinions”) has been released on July 26, 2019

As the product of industrial AI, the industrial internet uses the internet to connect people, machines and objects. The industrial internet has developed rapidly in recent years. In the operation of the industrial internet, a large amount of data would be collected, analyzed, transmitted, and archived. Those data may involve personal privacy, corporate trade secrets, and even state secrets. In order to strengthen the data protection, the state has successively released the “Cyber Security Law”, the “Industrial Control Network Security Risk Assessment Specification”, and national standards. In order to further strengthen the administration on the industrial internet security, MIIT and…

  • 2019-09-15
  • 4 minutes Read
Risk Prevention of Software Service Contracts

More and more companies apply software in handling business operations. They have to sign a software service contract (“SSC”) or a software development contract (“SDC”). In practice, many companies only pay attention to the payment article, which stipulates that the commissioning party would pay upon the acceptance of the deliveries. This opinion is very dangerous. In fact, in the 57th issue of the “Legal Notebook”, we have analyzed the common risks and risk prevention methods from the perspective of the commissioning party in the paper “Risk Prevention for Software Development Contracts”. We will analyze the risks and risk prevention methods…

  • 2019-09-15
  • 3 minutes Read
Feasibility and Attentions to Early Retirement System

An enterprise with a longer history would have more employees who are close to the retirement age. Some of those employees may have less improvement in skills, and be lack of energy. If they still occupy the positions, the successors will have fewer opportunities to practice. Under such circumstance, more and more enterprises are considering to establish the early retirement system. In practice, the early retirement system generally includes 3 categories: (1) to terminate a labor contract by negotiation, and the enterprise would pay a compensation in a lump sum; (b) the employee quits the position, and does not have…

  • 2019-08-15
  • 3 minutes Read
Several Opinions of Shanghai Municipal People's Government on Promoting Development of Regional Headquarters of Multinational Companies in the Municipality will be implemented on September 1, 2019

The Shanghai Municipal People’s Government has released the beneficial policy on promoting development of regional headquarters of multinational companies from 2002, and updated the relevant policy every few years. Recently, in order to further attract foreign investments, and level up the quality of foreign investments, the government has updated the policy again, which is the “Several Opinions of Shanghai Municipal People’s Government on Promoting Development of Regional Headquarters of Multinational Companies in the Municipality” (Hu Fu Gui [2019] No.30, hereinafter referred to as the “Opinions”). The main points are as follows: 1. To reduce the determination standards (1) To relax…