China Finds Parallel Imports Constitute Trademark Infringement

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China Finds Parallel Imports Constitute Trademark Infringement

Chinese trademark law has no specific prohibitions against sale of gray market products diverted into the Chinese market, also known as parallel importation.  An important breakthrough occurred recently when the Suzhou Intermediate Court enforced trademark holders’ rights against an unauthorized reseller of gray market goods imported into China.

Pernod Ricard China (Trading) Co., Ltd. is the exclusive trademark licensee of Absolut Vodka (Images II-IV) in China.  Pernod Ricard and the trademark owner, Absolut Company Aktiebolag, brought a lawsuit in China against a local retailer of parallel imports of Absolut Vodka products, asserting trademark infringement and unfair competition.  The key facts were that the imported products had manufacturers’ identification codes removed and had added labels bearing Chinese characters for “Absolut” (Image I) and identifying an unauthorized importer and distributor.  The code removal and label addition infringed consumers’ right to know about the product origin, interfered with the trademark owners’ ability to track products to maintain product quality, and undermined the integrity and beauty of the genuine product.   The removal of the manufacturers’ identification code violated Article 52.5 of China’s Trademark Law, which is a catchall term prohibiting impairment of an exclusive right to use a registered trademark, and constituted unfair competition.  The addition of unauthorized labeling violated Article 52.1 & 52.2, prohibiting use of an identical or similar mark on the same or similar goods without the permission of the owner of the registered trademark, and infringed the exclusive right to use the registered trademark.

Absolut Vodka Images

Absolut Vodka Images

Conkle, Kremer & Engel works to protect its clients’ brands in the United States and abroad.

11
FEB
0

Advertising and Labeling, Beauty Industry, Brand Protection, Fashion, Food, Craft Beer and Nutrition, Intellectual Property, International Trade, Trademarks, Unfair Competition

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Conkle Kremer & Engel Presents Brand Protection in Brazil

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Conkle Kremer & Engel Presents Brand Protection in Brazil

Daniel Advogados presenting at CK&E's Brand Protection in Brazil

Daniel Advogados presenting at CK&E’s Brand Protection in Brazil

Conkle, Kremer & Engel recently teamed up with its international correspondent lawyers from the Brazilian intellectual property firm Daniel Advogados, Andrew Bellingall and George de Lucena, to give a presentation about what companies can do to protect their brands in Brazil, including helpful information about doing business in Brazil.  Conkle, Kremer & Engel’s Mark D. Kremer emceed the event and moderated the informative Q&A that followed the presentation.

Brazil is the world’s fifth-largest country in the world in terms of land mass and population.  Brazil is also a founding member of BRICS – the acronym for the five major emerging economies of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.  Its growing middle class, stable currency, and high demand for its commodity exports have all made Brazil a very desirable place for companies to expand. And it does not hurt that Brazil will host both the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Olympic games.

Kyle Baker shows his 3Expressions 3D Tablet innovation to John Conkle and George Mendonça de Lucena

Kyle Baker shows his 3Expressions 3D Tablet innovation to John Conkle and George Mendonça de Lucena

Because our clients’ intellectual property and brand protection needs extend beyond the U.S. border, Conkle, Kremer & Engel has established working teams with leading international intellectual property law firms around the world.  It is Conkle, Kremer & Engel’s mission to stay on top of developments in all foreign and domestic markets where our clients currently operate or look to expand.

Conkle, Kremer & Engel wishes to thank all those who attended the presentation, as well as our friends and colleagues from Daniel Advogados, Andrew Bellingall and George de Lucena.   We are pleased to be able to confirm that the presentation was approved by the State Bar of California for 1.0 hour of participatory MCLE credit for all lawyers and paralegals in attendance.  For all questions regarding MCLE credit, please contact Martinique E. Busino at 310-998-9100.

Slideshows from Brand Protection in Brazil:

Daniel Advogados – Doing Business in Brazil

Daniel Advogados – Combating Counterfeiting and Piracy in Brazil

Topics covered in the presentation and the Q&A session included:

Strategies for entering the Brazilian market

  • Exporting goods bearing the owner’s trademark
  • Doing business through a subsidiary
  • Licensing use of trademarks to an unrelated third-party
  • Joint ventures with Brazilian companies
  • Franchise agreements with Brazilian companies

 Protection of trademarks in Brazil

  • Best practices for brand protection
  • An overview of trademark prosecution and enforcement in Brazil
  • Procedures and delays at the Brazilian Patent and Trademark Office
  • Legal remedies available to intellectual property owners
  • Court procedures in Brazil for actions involving intellectual property
  • Registration of domain names in Brazil

The latest developments at the Brazilian Patent and Trademark Office regarding trademarks

  • Issues related to Brazil’s possible adoption of the Madrid Protocol
  • Adoption of multi-class and multiple owner applications

Combating counterfeiting and piracy in Brazil

  • Ramifications of intellectual property infringements, which are crimes in Brazil
  • Using criminal remedies and border control measures as intellectual property protection solutions

 

13
OCT
0

Banking and Finance, Beauty Industry, Brand Protection, Contracts, Business and Finance, Fashion, Food, Craft Beer and Nutrition, Intellectual Property, International Trade, Manufacturing, Sales, Technology, Trademarks

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Kirtsaeng Holds Copyright First Sale Doctrine Trumps Importation Rights

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Kirtsaeng Holds Copyright First Sale Doctrine Trumps Importation Rights

The Copyright Act gives a copyright owner the exclusive right to sell copies of the copyrighted work. But once a genuine copy is sold, a lawful owner of that particular copy can resell or transfer what he bought without infringing the copyright – the copyright owner can no longer use the copyright to control the resale of that particular copy.  This copyright limitation has become known as the “First Sale Doctrine.”

A quirk in copyright law arose because the Copyright Act has a provision that prevents importation of a copyrighted work into the U.S. without the copyright owner’s permission.  (17 U.S.C. 602(a)(1)).  This ability of the copyright owner to prohibit importation seemed to conflict with the First Sale Doctrine when a copy is first sold outside of the United States.

In the 1998 decision Quality King Distributors, Inc. v. L’Anza Research, Int’l, Inc., the Supreme Court held that a copyrighted product manufactured in the U.S., but first sold in a foreign country, was subject to the First Sale Doctrine.  The result was that the copyright owner could not prohibit importation of the copyrighted product into the U.S.  But the question remained whether the First Sale Doctrine also applied to copyrighted works that were both manufactured and first sold outside the U.S.

In March 2013 the Supreme Court answered the question by applying the First Sale Doctrine regardless of where the copyrighted work is manufactured or first sold.  In Kirtsaeng dba Bluechristine99 v. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., the products involved were textbooks manufactured and first sold in Thailand by the copyright owner, then later imported into the U.S. for resale without the copyright owner’s permission.   In a split decision, the Supreme Court held that the Copyright Act requires that the First Sale Doctrine applies to authentic, unaltered products that were lawfully manufactured and first sold by the copyright owner in a foreign country as well as in the U.S.

The Kirtsaeng decision provides no protection for sale of modified, adulterated, pirated or counterfeit copies, regardless of where they were made or sold.  Nor does it insulate parties from participation in fraud, breach of contract, unfair competition or other wrongful acts that are independent of copyright protections.  Conkle, Kremer & Engel has long recommended that its clients take a multi-faceted approach to preventing and remedying product diversion and counterfeiting, so they are able to effectively address the problem no matter where and how the misconduct occurs.

9
APR
0

Beauty Industry, Brand Protection, Copyrights, Fashion, Food, Craft Beer and Nutrition, Intellectual Property, International Trade, Manufacturing, Personal Care Products, Sales, Technology, Trademarks, Unfair Competition

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