Bad faith filings in the Chinese Trademark Law: evolution, status quo and improvements

Abstract

Bad faith trademark filings are a serious problem in China. During the fourth revision of the Chinese Trademark Law in 2019, bad faith filings without the intention to use the trademark was added as an absolute ground, with the aim that the Chinese Trademark Law can cope with the bad faith filings problem more effectively. Nevertheless, compared with the EU trademark system, the bad faith filing in the Chinese Trademark Law is not an absolute autonomous ground. Different kinds of bad faith filings are regulated by different clauses respectively. Some trademarks filed in bad faith can only be dealt with by relative grounds and cannot be invalidated after five years of their registrations. In order to deter malicious registration, bad faith filings per se should be introduced into the Chinese Trademark Law as an autonomous absolute ground. Trademarks filed in bad faith should be invalidated at any time.