Legal Notebook

There is a misunderstanding on the management of registered trademarks that once the trademark has been registered, the registrant only has to pay attention to the renewal procedure. However, if the registrant changes its name or address and etc., it shall file the relevant changes to the Trademark Office in time, otherwise, someday, it might encounter unexpected risks. Risk No.1: The registered trademark might be revoked due to failure to file the changes in time. Paragraph 1, Article 49 of “Trademark Law” stipulates, where, in using a registered trademark, the registrant changes the registered trademark, the name or address of…

Both parties agreed in the purchase contract that if the seller delays the delivery for more than 15 days, the deposit amount to RMB100,000 shall be refunded, and the seller shall also undertake the default fine amount to 20% of the total price. Later then, the seller failed to deliver on time, the buyer filed a lawsuit to the court, and required the seller to refund doubled amount of the deposit, in addition with the default fine. Whether the court would support the buyer’s claim? This question brings out 2 sub-questions. Whether both parties could agree to rule out the…

Company A and Company B entered into a sales and purchase contract, in which it prescribed that the disputes should be under the jurisdiction of the court where Company B is located. Later, Company B filed a lawsuit to the court for the dispute on the payment under this contract. Company A immediately filed a jurisdiction objection, with the reason that the contract was performed where Company A is located. The court of the first instance dismissed the jurisdiction objection. Company A filed an appeal. At this time, Company B got to know that Company A might be transferring important…

Company A is headquartered in Shanghai. The employees who are working in the Hangzhou office of Company A, and they require Company A to pay social insurance in Hangzhou. Since Company A has not establish a branch in Hangzhou, it could not obtain an independent social insurance account, it has to entrust a third party to sign labor contracts with those employees and pay social insurance for them. The HR department is still worried about this arrangement. In practice, due to many reasons, it is not rare for a company to entrust a third party to pay social insurance for…

In commercial activities, in order to cater to the promotion design style or for other reasons, many trademark owners might change registered trademarks. For example, if a registered trademark containing characters and pictures, the owner might use the 2 elements separately. However, these changes may be accompanied with legal risks. Article 49 of “Trademark Law” prescribes that where, in using a registered trademark, the trademark registrant changes the registered trademark without approval, ……the local administrative department for industry and commerce shall order the registrant to make correction within a prescribed time limit; and if the registrant fails to do so…

Due to the bone hyperplasia, Jia submitted the application for sick leave and proofs to the department head. The department head approved the application, but the HR department refused to approve, because proofs did not meet the requirements, and the general manager did not approve as well. Later, the company dissolved the labor contract with Jia, by the reason that proofs submitted by Jia did not meet the requirements as stipulated in the “Employee Handbook”, in which an employee should provide the diagnosis of the hospitals designated by States Social Security Administration, the records of the diagnosis(medical records, payment receipts)…

Zhu and Company Y signed a financing leasing contract, in which both parties agreed that Zhu would purchase a set of equipment and lease to Company Y, after the lease expired, if Company Y could pay off the financing principal and the lease fee, then the set of equipment should belong to Company Y, otherwise, the lease period shall be extended. Later then, Company Y defaulted on the lease, Zhu brought a lawsuit against Company Y. Company Y defended with the excuse that Zhu had not obtained the financial business license, so the contract should be deemed as invalid. The…

Lau did not get the year-end bonus, because his year-end assessment was poor. He complained about the poor welfare in the company’s WeChat group, and encouraged other employees to strike. The company dissolved the labor contract by the reason that Lau had made mischief. But the company lost in the labor arbitration. Withe the popularity of the Internet, some employees would express their opinions or vent emotions on the internet, such as via WeChat, Weibo, BBS and so on. Some of those words might be a statement of truth, while others might be fabricated contents, and even some are only…

A Nanjing company and a Harbin company entered into a sales contract, in which the dispute resolution clause was stipulated as “any disputes arising from this contract shall be settled by the Arbitration Institution of Jiangsu Province”. Later then, the Harbin company failed to pay on time, the Nanjing company applied for arbitration to the Nanjing Arbitration Institution, but it was informed that the agreement on the dispute resolution was invalid. Finally, the Nanjing company had to bring a lawsuit against the Harbin company to the court in which the Harbin company was located. Such cases are not rare. Many…

Chen and Company A entered into a labor contract, in which the term of the contract was prescribed as 1 year, and the probation period was 1 month. During the probation period, Chen got sick, and the hospital issued a 6months sick leave. Company A dissolved the labor contract by the reason that Chen was unhealthy and did not meet the employment requirements. Although an employer could set a requirement on physical health, once an employee could not work due to health reason, in practice, we have not searched any judgments which support the employer. From the legislative purpose of…