ABSTRACT
The present decision reveals that a rule for the protection of well-known trademarks, namely Article 13 of the Trademark Law may also apply in cases where the infringing marks were used on identical or similar goods designated by the well-known trademarks. The defendants appealed to the Beijing Higher People’s Court, which on November 20, 2015 upheld the decision of the Trademark Office. The trademark of the plaintiff was not well known when the defendant applied for registration of its trademark. The trademark was registered on April 21, 2014, and Deere & Company and its affiliate commenced the proceedings on Feb 5, 2016, well before the five-year time limit for the request for invalidation of the trademark “. The core issue of the present case is whether Article 13 of 2001 Trademark Law applies when the prior registered well-known trademarks are used for identical or similar goods.
