Supreme Court hands down landmark ruling on OEM infringement

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clpstaff

A Supreme People's Court ruling has brought welcome clarity over whether OEM constitutes trademark use in China. However, it remains to be seen if the Court's finding will be applied to infringement cases

Original equipment manufacturing (OEM) is a commonly used structure, where foreign consignors provide trademark samples and ask businesses in China to make products labelled with the trademark. All the goods are returned to foreign countries for sale.

Over the past decade, the question of whether OEM constitutes trademark use has been met with differing opinions by the courts and administrative authorities. In the past, the administrative authorities have held the opinion that OEM is not trademark use.

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