Published: February 8, 2020
Category: Employment Law
By: David Cui
Many foreign companies produce in China and do not actually intend to sell in China. Foreign brand owners find that they make goods in China, but they don't register trademarks in China. There may be a variety of reasons for this, but it is usually because (a) they choose not to register because they (wrongly) think it is not worth their time or money, (b) they want to, but have no time to do so, or they have difficulty doing so, or (c) a third party has maliciously registered their trademark.
For a long time, each province (city) has its own way to deal with it. The Customs authorities of a port can provide exceptions (often referred to as "OEM exceptions") and allow goods to be shipped out without being registered in China, provided certain documents (such as foreign trademark certificates and power of attorney from foreign rights holders) are submitted. Other authorities may choose to detain the infringing goods. A few years ago, after making it clear that this is a hot issue, the Supreme People's court made a ruling to clarify that export only activities do not constitute trademark infringement. It held that if the products concerned are purely for export and Chinese consumers cannot buy these products in China, these activities should not be infringed and regarded as "trademark use". This is very helpful for companies that find that they are not registered but are accused of trademark infringement by a third party (usually preemptive registrants of malicious registered trademarks).
In 2019, however, the Supreme People's Court issued a new judgment that changed their guidance on the issue. The judgment pointed out that only export activities (or "OEM behavior") should be regarded as trademark use, so it can constitute trademark infringement. The court said that with the development of e-commerce, Chinese consumers can buy products made in China online, which are only for export, but eventually find a way to return to China. The court further found that because many Chinese people travel abroad, Chinese consumers can only obtain export products. In general, the court held that with the increase of the possibility for Chinese people to obtain products, in order to protect China's trademark rights, export only activities should be regarded as trademark use, and should bear tort liability.
This new judgment of the Supreme People's court is a great change. Generally speaking, the lower courts and administrative organs, such as port customs, begin to follow this new guideline. If the brand owner has no trademark right in China, if you are still made products in China, please register your trademark as soon as possible.
在中国生产产品，请注册中国商标
许多公司在中国生产，实际上并不打算在中国销售产品。外国品牌所有者发现自己在中国制造商品，却没有在中国注册商标。这可能有多种原因，但通常是因为（a）他们选择不注册，因为他们（错误地）认为这不值得他们的时间或金钱，（b）他们想，但没有时间这样做，或有困难这样做，或（c）第三方已经恶意注册了他们的商标。
长期以来，每个省（市）都有自己的处理方法。一个港口的海关当局可以提供例外情况（通常称为“原始设备制造商例外情况”），并允许货物在未在中国注册的情况下运出，前提是提交了某些文件（例如外国商标证书和外国权利持有人的授权书）。其他当局可能会选择扣留侵权货物。几年前，在明确这是一个热点问题后，最高人民法院作出裁决，澄清仅出口的活动不构成商标侵权，认为如果有关产品纯粹用于出口，中国消费者不能在中国购买这些产品，这些活动就不应被侵犯被认为是“商标使用”。这对那些发现自己没有注册但被第三方指控侵犯商标权的公司（通常是恶意注册商标的抢注者）非常有帮助。
然而，在2019年，最高人民法院发布了一项新的判决，改变了他们对这一问题的指导。判决书指出，仅出口活动（或“OEM行为”）确实应被视为商标使用，因此可构成商标侵权。法院表示，随着电子商务的发展，中国消费者可以在网上购买中国制造的产品，这些产品只用于出口，但最终找到了返回中国的途径。法院进一步认定，由于许多中国人出国旅游，中国消费者只能获得出口产品。总的来说，法院认为，随着中国人获得产品的可能性增加，为了保护中国的商标权，仅出口的活动应被视为商标使用，并应承担侵权责任。
最高人民法院的这一新判决，是一次巨大转变。一般来说，下级法院和行政机关，如港口海关开始遵循这一新的指导方针，如果品牌所有者在中国没有商标权，如果你仍旧在中国制造，请尽快注册你的商标。
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