Supreme People's Court, Questions Concerning the Application of Law to the Pre-litigation Injunctions to Cease Infringement on Exclusive Rights to Use Registered Trademarks and Preservation of Evidence Interpretation

Issued: January 9 2002
Effective: January 22 2002

Main contents: Under the amended Trademark Law, a registered trademark registrant or any party of interests may petition the people's court to issue an order to stop the infringement of the trademark and to preserve the evidence. According to the Interpretation, parties of interests include the licensee(s) of the trademark licensing contract and the legitimate successor(s) to the property rights of the registered trademark. In the case of a sole licensee, it may file the petition by itself, and in the case of an exclusive licensee, it may file the petition if the trademark registrant does not do so (Article 1). Such a petition shall be filed to the people's court of the place where the infringement takes place or where the respondent resides that has jurisdiction over trademark cases (Article 2). The petition shall set out, among other things, the reasons that the legal rights and interests of the petitioning party will be harmed irreparably if the infringement is not to be stopped immediately or that the relevant evidence is likely to disappear or is impossible to obtain again later if it is not to be preserved immediately (Article 3). Security shall be provided for such petitions (Article 6). Upon receipt of a petition, the people's court must make its decision within 48 hours, and the petitioning party must file a formal lawsuit within 15 days from the execution of the court order (Articles 9 and 12). Where a trademark owner or a party of interests petitions the people's court for pre-judgment injunction against trademark infringement upon filing a lawsuit or during the lawsuit, the people's court may issue such injunction in accordance with the provisions of the Interpretation (Article 16).
Related legislation: PRC, Civil Law General Principles, Apr 12 1986; PRC, Trademark Law (2nd Revision), Oct 27 2001, CLP 2001 No.10 p75 and PRC Civil Procedure Law (2nd Revision)