BKIP Limited


Documentation requirements for filing appeal to People’s Court for trademark cases. Apr 2018
There are legal procedures in China for the unsatisfied parties in proceedings before the Trademark Review and Adjudication Board (TRAB) to appeal to the People's Court. Due to the stringent documentation requirements of the People's Court, litigants may risk losing their cases due to the failure of providing the necessary documentation within the tight statutory time limits. This article aims at providing a brief outline for the documentation requirements for court appeal cases.
Filing a court appeal case for TRAB matters involves 2 important procedural steps:
1. Preliminary Filing, and 2. Formal Filing that shall be conducted within 3 months after the Preliminary Filing.
In respect of the Preliminary Filing, the documentation requirements are as follows:-
1. Scanned copy of the executed Power of Attorney (POA): At this preliminary filing stage, the POA can either be signed by the official representative (e.g. a director of a company) of the litigant or by its authorized legal representative (e.g. an authorized attorney). But at the Formal Filing stage, the POA shall be signed by the official representative of the litigant and shall be notarized and legalized. 2. Original written decision of TRAB together with the original postal envelop.
At the Formal Filing stage, the documentation requirements are as follows:-
(While formality documentation differs from country to country, we take the UK documents for Beijing IP Court for ease of reference.)
1. Notarized and legalized copy of the company certificate to prove that the litigant was legally established and is currently active; 2. Copies and translated version of Companies Act 1985 and 2006 and highlighting the related articles stipulating that directors of UK companies shall have the rights to sign all documents. No need for notarization and legalization for these documents. 3. Statement confirming the director's particulars. This is required to be notarized and legalized; 4. Notarized and legalized POA to be signed by one of the directors as shown on the company register. 5. Notarized and legalized Identity Certificate (namely, certification of identification of representative) to be signed by the same director who signed the POA.
Since it would take considerable time for arranging legalization of documents at the Chinese Embassy in London, it is advisable to make good planning ahead of the statutory deadlines to ensure the availability of the necessary documentation for meeting the requirements as imposed by the People's Court.