China is very likely going to double the compensation ceiling for trademark infringement to 2 million yuan. This probability was stated according to the latest draft amendment to the Trademark Law. The amount of compensation ranges from 20,000 yuan to 2 million yuan which, will be paid to the holders of trademark rights if a case of infringement occurs.
The possibility of the increased compensation was stated in the draft which is tabled for a second reading at the ongoing four-day bimonthly session of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress (NPC), which is China’s top legislature. According to the first draft amendment, the compensation ceiling amount was set to 1 million yuan, which is up from 500,000 yuan under the current law.
This move will be taken in order to provide a better protection of the exclusive trademark rights and further punish the infringement. Xie Jingrong, deputy head of the NPC’s law committee, suggested the move to increase the ceiling. The Trademark Law was adopted by China in 1982 and made the amendments to the law in 1993 and 2001.
Starting from June 2012, China held the largest number of registered trademarks and valid trademark registrations in the world, at 7.17 million and 6.09 million, respectively.
