"Mr. Liu, the founder of an intelligent hardware company in Nanshan District, Shenzhen, walked into Guangdong Zhiming Law Firm last month with a stack of notarized infringement certificates. Just four months after his product went online, he was counterfeited by a factory in Zhejiang, and the other party was still dumping 30% below cost on the e-commerce platform. Even more tricky, he found that his application for trademark registration, filed in 2022, was disputed by another company under Article 32 of the Trademark Law on the grounds of "snapping up a trademark that others had previously used and had some influence on". This is not an example - the number of cases accepted by the Shenzhen Intellectual Property Court in 2023 increased by 15% year-on-year, of which more than 60% involved dual infringement of trademarks and design patents."

"Key Data Reveal: The Real Threshold for IP Protection in Shenzhen"

"Behind the annual increase of 15% in intellectual property cases in Shenzhen is a sharp rise in the ceiling of compensation. According to Article 71 of the Patent Law, if the actual loss of the right holder, the profit of the infringer, or the patent license fee are difficult to determine, the court may award compensation of more than 30,000 yuan and less than 5 million yuan at its discretion. In the judgment made by the Shenzhen Intermediate People's Court in 2023, the highest amount of compensation in a design patent infringement case reached 4.98 million yuan. However, high compensation does not mean easy evidence collection, and more than 53% of the right holders cannot claim punitive compensation because of the broken chain of evidence."

"Legal basis: three directly invoked articles of law"

"The core of the response to trademark registration is Article 32 of the Trademark Law: "An application for trademark registration shall not be made by improper means to pre-empt the registration of a trademark that has been used by others and has a certain impact." If the other party does not actually use it within 3 years after the registration, it can also apply for withdrawal in accordance with Article 49. For patent infringement cases, Article 65 of the Patent Law applies. The amount of compensation shall be determined according to the actual loss suffered by the right holder due to the infringement. If the loss is difficult to calculate, it shall be calculated according to the infringer's profit. For core technology leakage, Article 12 of the Provisions of the Supreme People's Court on Several Issues Concerning the Application of Law in the Trial of Civil Cases of Infringement of Trade Secrets, which was implemented in 2024, clarifies the rules of proof of "contact + substantial similarity", according to which the victim can request to stop the infringement and claim compensation."

"Q: My trademark was stolen, but the other party has been registered for 1 year, is there any chance to get it back?"

"A: There is an opportunity. According to Article 45 of the Trademark Law, the right holder of a well-known trademark can request invalidation within 5 years from the date of registration; if the other party is maliciously rushing for registration, it is not subject to the 5-year limit. However, it is necessary to submit evidence in a timely manner after receiving the notice of the Trademark Office, including sales contracts, invoices, advertisement placement records, etc. using the trademark."

"Solution: Practical Paths to Three Types of Infringement"

Trademark was registered illegally"The process is divided into three steps: one is to raise an objection to the Trademark Office during the announcement period, the second is to apply for invalidation after registration, and the third is to file a lawsuit for malicious registration. Shenzhen enterprises can preferentially submit a rapid pre-trial through the China (Shenzhen) Intellectual Property Protection Center, compressing the review period from 12 months to 45 days."

Patent infringement"The key to defending rights lies in the fact that the evidence is fixed. Shen Jinlong, director of Zhiming Law Firm, suggested that the right holder should notarize the purchase link, inventory quantity, and sales records of the infringing product within 7 days from the date of discovery of the infringement, and apply for a pre-suit injunction from the court if necessary - the injunction ruling made by the Futian District Court in Shenzhen in 2023 only took an average of 11 days."

Core technology leakage"Differentiated scenarios are required for handling: for resigned employees, compensation for breach of contract can be claimed according to the competition restriction agreement; for the disclosure of the partner, the contractual fault liability of Article 501 of the Civil Code applies. In any case, confidential computers should be sealed within 24 hours, and access control records should be retrieved to form a "leak timeline"."

"Q: How long does it usually take for a patent infringement lawsuit to go from filing a case to a first-instance judgment?"

"A: In the Shenzhen Intellectual Property Court, the average trial period for cases subject to ordinary procedures is 8 months; if you apply for small litigation procedures or summary procedures, it can be shortened to 3 months at the earliest. However, if the delivery is smooth and does not require secondary identification, the cycle may exceed 15 months if complex technical comparison is involved."

"Real case: The design company was awarded 3 million yuan, and the cottage products were completely removed from the shelves."

"In 2023, a home design company in Longhua District, Shenzhen, took the original modular furniture design drawings and found a law firm in Zhiming. They found that there were completely consistent imitations from structure to color matching on the market, with a price of only 40% of the authentic product, and cumulative sales of more than 21,000 pieces in 3 months. After Shen Jinlong's team of lawyers intervened, they notarized the sales data of the e-commerce platform through the backstage, locked the manufacturer's foundry in Dongguan, simultaneously applied to the Shenzhen Intellectual Property Court for evidence preservation, and sued the court."

"During the trial of the case, the defendant raised a legitimate source defense, but failed to establish it in front of the complete design source documents, timestamp certification records and WeChat chat records. The final court found that it constituted an infringement of the design patent, and awarded a compensation of 3 million yuan based on the profit margin of the infringing product and the proportion of advertising investment. At the same time, the defendant was ordered to destroy all molds and inventory. From the filing of the case to the completion of the implementation, it took 7 months for all the cottage products to be removed from the e-commerce platform."

Conclusion

"The window period for intellectual property rights protection is often calculated in days. The trademark announcement period is 3 months, the patent infringement limitation period is 3 years, and the key 24 hours for the evidence of trade secrets. Each node needs professional judgment. Guangdong Zhiming Law Firm has been deeply cultivating Shenzhen for 26 years. Chief lawyer Shen Jinlong has handled more than 300 intellectual property cases. The office address is located in Room 1802, Block A, Xintian Century Business Center, Shixia North Second Street, Futian District, Shenzhen. If you are facing the dilemma of trademark registration, product counterfeiting or technical disclosure, you can call 0755-25986969 directly to explain the situation and we will give you a preliminary assessment of the protection path."