《反不正当竞争法》和《商标法》修订概要
Summary of the Latest Amendment to the Trademark Law and the Anti-Unfair Competition Law
《反不正当竞争法》和《商标法》修订概要
Overview
The decision to amend eight Laws was adopted at the 10th Session of the Standing Committee of the Thirteenth National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China on April 23, 2019. This includes the amendment to the Trademark Law of the P.R.C and the Anti-Unfair Competition Law of the P.R.C.
The amendment to the Anti-Unfair Competition Law has come into force as of the date of issuance of the above decision, and the amendment to the Trademark Law will come into force on November 1, 2019.
This summary aims to present and discuss the latest amendment to the two Laws mentioned above.
2019年4月23日，第十三届全国人民代表大会常务委员会第十次会议通过了对八部法律的修订；其中，修订后的《反不正当竞争法》于当日生效；新修订的《商标法》则于2019年11月1日起生效。本文主要针对两部法律的修订内容进行探讨和总结。
霖理法律英语
No.1
《反不正当竞争法》的修订
The Amendment to the Anti-Unfair Competition Law
《反不正当竞争法》的修订集中在有关商业秘密的条款部分，主要变化包含以下几个方面：
The amendment to the Anti-Unfair Competition Law is mainly concerned with changes of the rules for Trade Secrets, including the following aspects.
Part I
Firstly, the scope of Trade Secrets. Article 9 of the amended Law adds “other trade information” to the definition of Trade Secrets.
As we know, Trade Secrets refer to the technology or business information and other trade information unknown to the public and of a commercial value for which its holders have taken corresponding confidentiality measures.
The amendment has made it easier for the application of Trade Secrets in judicial practice, which is conducive to the protection of enterprises’legal rights through Trade Secrets.
第一，扩大了“商业秘密”的范围。修订后的《反不正当竞争法》第九条中关于“商业秘密”的定义增加了“等商业信息”。
商业秘密是指不为公众所知悉、具有商业价值并经权利人采取相应保密措施的技术信息、经营信息等商业信息。这次修改降低了“商业秘密”概念的门槛，更有利于企业通过商业秘密制度保护自己的权益。
Part II
Secondly, the amendment enlarges the scope of subjects involved in the infringement of Trade Secrets.
Article 9 of the amended Law provides that not only the specific businesses, but also any natural person, legal person, or other organization can infringe on Trade Secrets, which has reduced the applicable thresholds of Trade Secrets and made it easier for businesses to protect their Trade Secrets.
第二，扩大了关于实施侵犯商业秘密行为的主体范围。
修订后的《反不正当竞争法》第九条增加了“经营者以外的其他自然人、法人和非法人组织实施前款所列违法行为的，视为侵犯商业秘密”的规定。这一表述，将自然人、其他组织、非法人组织等都纳入侵犯商业秘密行为的主体中。
Part III
Thirdly, the amendment provides for more circumstances that would constitute infringement.
Electronic infringement is also considered as one of the forms of infringement of Trade Secrets as provided in paragraph 1 of the Article 9.
This provision is conducive to the combat against infringement of Trade Secrets through advanced technological means.
第三，增加了侵权行为的表现方式，修订后的《反不正当竞争法》第九条第（1）款把“电子侵入”列为侵犯商业秘密的行为之一。这一规定有利于规制采取现代化科技手段侵犯商业秘密的行为。
Part IV
Fourthly, the amendment specifies the burden of proof in civil procedure involving cases of infringement of Trade Secrets.
According to Article 32 of the Anti-Unfair Competition Law, if the holders of Trade Secrets can provide preliminary evidence for infringement of Trade Secrets, the alleged tortfeasors shall assume the burden of proof reversely.
This amendment reassigns the burden of proof between the holders and alleged tortfeasors in civil procedure involved in infringement of Trade Secrets, in order to better protect holders of Trade Secrets through preliminary evidence.
第四，增加了关于侵犯商业秘密的民事审判程序的举证责任安排。
根据修订后的《反不正当竞争法》第32条的规定，在权利人能够对商业秘密及侵权行为提供初步证据的情况下，由侵权人承担反向证明责任。
该条款实际上是对商业秘密案件中的举证责任重新进行了分配调整，这更有利于商业秘密持有人通过初步举证有效保护商业秘密。
Part V
Fifthly, the amendment provides for a heavier penalty for infringement of Trade Secrets.
As for the malicious infringement of Trade Secrets, the amended Law raises the maximum limit of punitive compensation from RMB 3 million to RMB 5 million.
第五，修订后的《反不正当竞争法》提高了对侵权行为的处罚标准，对恶意实施侵犯商业秘密的行为，增加了“惩罚性”赔偿，把最高赔偿限额从300万元人民币提高到500万元人民币。
No.2
《商标法》的修订
The Amendment to the Trademark Law
此次《商标法》的修改加强了对商标申请的规制以及对侵犯注册商标行为的处罚力度。主要涉及四个方面：
The amendment to the Trademark Law reinforces the management of application for trademark registration and increases the penalties for infringement of registered trademarks. The amendment concerns the following four aspects.
Part I
Forbidding malicious registration
禁止恶意注册
The Trademark Law regulates the malicious application for trademark registration that is not filed for the purpose of use. Any application for trademark registration that is malicious and is not filed for the purpose of use shall be rejected.
In addition, Article 19, Article 33 and Article 44 of the amended Law regulate the above malicious registration from the respective perspectives of the trademark agencies, opposition procedure and invalidation procedure.
The excerpts of the provisions on the malicious application for trademark registration that is not filed for the purpose of use in the Trademark Law
Any application for trademark registration that is malicious and is not filed for the purpose of use shall be rejected. (Article 4)
Where a trademark agency is or should be aware that the trademark to be registered by the entrusting party falls under the circumstances stipulated in Article 4, 15 or 32 of this Law, it shall not accept the entrustment.(Article 19)
Any person who held that a preliminarily validated and published trademark violates the provisions of Article 4, 10, 11, 12 or 19 of this Law may raise an objection to the trademark bureau within three months from the date of gazette. (Article 33)
Where a registered trademark violates the provisions of Article 4, 10, 11 or 12 of this Law, or the fourth paragraph of Article 19 of this Law, the registered trademark shall be invalidated by the trademark bureau.(Article 44)
Detailed Regulations for the Implementation of the Trademark Law of the People's Republic of China will need to further elaborate on what constitutes malicious application for trademark registration that is not filed for the purpose of use.
It is noted that the bona fide application for trademark registration that is filed for the purpose of use will be the value orientation of the future development of the Trademark Law. It is the purpose of use instead of registration that will be leading the trend in the market.
修订后的《商标法》对不以使用为目的的恶意注册行为进行了规制。对于“不以使用为目的的恶意注册行为”，该法规定将驳回注册申请，并从商标代理机构（第十九条）、异议程序（第三十三条）及无效程序（第四十四条）等多方面进行预防和规制。
《商标法》关于“不以使用为目的的恶意注册行为”之摘录
1 | 第四条：不以使用为目的的恶意商标注册申请，应当予以驳回。 |
2 | 第十九条：商标代理机构知道或者应当知道委托人申请注册的商标属于本法第四条、第十五条和第三十二条规定情形的，不得接受其委托。 |
3 4 | 第三十三条：对初步审定公告的商标，自公告之日起三个月内，任何人认为违反本法第四条、第十条、第十一条、第十二条、第十九条第四款规定的，可以向商标局提出异议。 第四十四条（第一款）：已经注册的商标，违反本法第四条、第十条、第十一条、第十二条、第十九条第四款规定的，由商标局宣告该注册商标无效。 |
如何解释“不以使用为目的的恶意注册”还有待《商标法实施细则》的具体条文进行规管。“以使用为目的的善意注册”将是未来商标法的价值走向，并将引领市场中商标的使用价值（而非注册目的的价值）。
Part II
Regulating the malicious litigation
规制恶意诉讼行为
Article 68 of the Trademark Law further provides for a punishment mechanism for the trademark agencies to file a trademark lawsuit maliciously, so as to prevent some trademark agencies from seeking improper interests through a lawsuit in bad faith.
修订后的《商标法》第六十八条进一步对代理机构恶意提起商标诉讼的行为规定了惩罚机制，避免有些机构以恶意诉讼谋取不正当利益。
Part III
Raising the amount of legal compensation for trademark infringement
提高商标侵权的法定赔偿金额
Article 63 of the Trademark Law raises the maximum limit to trademark infringement from RMB 3 million to RMB 5 million, and further increases the penalties for malicious infringement. As for malicious infringement, the maximum amount of compensation may be five times the actual loss of the holders of trademarks.
修订后的《商标法》第六十三条将商标侵权行为的赔偿总额的上限从300万上调至500万，并进一步加大了对恶意侵权的惩罚力度。针对恶意侵权行为，最高赔偿额可达权利人实际损失的五倍。
Part IV
The disposition of infringing products
对于侵权产品的处理
The amendment specifies the disposition of the infringing facilities and products. Article 63 of the Trademark Law provides that the materials and tools which are mainly used for the manufacture of commodities with falsely used registered trademarks shall be ordered to destroy without compensation; or the aforesaid materials and tools shall be prohibited from entering market without compensation.
Particularly, it also stipulates that the commodities with falsely used registered trademarks shall not enter market even though having removed the falsely used registered trademarks.
修订后的《商标法》对涉及侵权标识的设备和侵权物品的处理做出了比较明确的规定。在第六十三条中增加规定了“对主要用于制造假冒注册商标的商品的材料、工具，责令销毁，且不予补偿；或者在特殊情况下，责令禁止前述材料、工具进入商业渠道，且不予补偿。”
该法还特别增加了“假冒注册商标的商品不得在仅去除假冒注册商标后进入商业渠道”的规定。
Postscript
In short, the amendment to the Trademark Law shows that the legislative branch has attached great importance to the use value of the right to a trademark, which is beneficial to the protection of rights, the prohibition of abuse of rights and also the restraint of malicious registration and litigation.
It is also conducive to the more rational and comprehensive protection of intellectual property right related to brand protection through raising the limit of legal compensation.
总之，本次《商标法》修订显示了立法部门重视商标权利的使用价值，实现了重视权利保护与遏制权利滥用的双重举措，对恶意注册和恶意诉讼行为予以遏制。同时，通过提高赔偿限额，有利于更加理性、全面地保护与品牌保护有关的知识产权权利。
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