CHINA Law and Practice Contributed by: Chuanhong Long, Bin Zhang, Cuicui Liang and Lei Fu, CCPIT Patent and Trademark Law Office
10.5 Customs Seizures of Counterfeits or Parallel Imports Counterfeits The Chinese legal system provides for customs sei - zure of counterfeits. For the purpose of customs protection, the owner of intellectual property rights (IPRs) – which might include trade marks, patents and copyrights already approved, granted or registered by the competent state authorities – should record its IPRs with the China General Administration of Cus - toms on the basis of a certificate for each recordation. The trade mark registration certificate issued by the CNIPA or a certified copyright registration certificate is required in order to record the trade mark right or copyright in the General Administration of Customs (GAC). If a designated IPR has been successfully recorded with the GAC, the information on the IPR will be add - ed to the official computer system of the GAC to be shared by every customs office within Chinese terri - tory. When customs officers carry out routine inspec - tions of imported or exported goods, they will pay more attention to goods bearing the recorded IPRs. If the customs office suspects some goods have infringed the recorded IPR, it will notify the IPR owner and, upon application filed by the IPR owner with remittance of the required security bond, customs will detain the suspected goods. The security bond will be based on the value of the suspected goods. Parallel Imports Regarding parallel imports, if the products involved in “parallel imports” are genuine, in their original pack - aging with a reasonable indication of the origin of the products that will not mislead consumers and will not damage the function of the trade mark, and the goods have been imported through legal customs channels into China, the sale of these products will not be regarded as trade mark infringement.
copyright administrative departments, if the parties involved are dissatisfied, they can apply for adminis - trative reconsideration or file an administrative lawsuit in accordance with the law. Decisions of the Court In trade mark or copyright infringement judgments made by the first instance court, appeals are typi - cally filed with a higher-level court. The appeal pro - cess involves submitting a written appeal petition, presenting arguments and evidence, and attending court hearings. The appellate court will review the case, assess the arguments and evidence, and make a decision based on the appeal. 11.2 Timeframes for Appealing Trial Court Decisions If any party is dissatisfied with the judgment or ruling of the first instance court, they have the right to file an appeal with the higher-level people’s court within 15 days from the date of receiving the written judgment, or within ten days from the date of receiving the writ - ten ruling. (Parties that are not domiciled within the territory of the PRC have the right to appeal against a first instance judgment or ruling within 30 days.) Upon receiving a written appeal, the original trial court must serve copies of the appeal to the opposing parties within five days. The opposing parties then have 15 days to submit their written statements of defence. (Parties not domiciled within the PRC have 30 days to submit their statement of defence.) The trial of the case will proceed unaffected if the statement of defence is not filed within the specified time. According to the Civil Procedure Law, a people’s court must complete the trial of an appeal case against a judgment within three months after the appeal is accepted. Any extension of this period under special circumstances requires the approval of the chief jus - tice of the people’s court. For an appeal case against a ruling, a people’s court must issue a final ruling within 30 days after the appeal is accepted.
11. Appeal 11.1 Appellate Procedure Decisions of the Administration
In trade mark or copyright infringement decisions made by the administration for market regulation or
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