In a bid to improve the nation's business environment, the China National Intellectual Property Administration will roll out a new set of regulations on trademark filings to curb the "applications out of malice". The regulations draft has been publicized on the CNIPA website, soliciting suggestions and opinions from the public until March 14. Comprised of eight articles, the new regulations target "abnormal applications", such as trademark squatting, imitating established brands and filings with no intentions for actual use in industry or business. The regulations, once they take effect, will also come as a severe blow to trademark speculators, who apply for and stock trademarks for trade rather than industrial or business use. Organizations and individuals involved in the abnormal applications will be publicized on the CNIPA website and China Intellectual Property News, a Beijing-based newspaper, and face other punishments administered by related authorities, according to the draft. They will also be blacklisted and exposed via a national credibility information sharing system. Trademarks achieved by this means will be declared void, the draft says.

Source: Chinadaily