Protection of the exclusive right to use a registered trademark can be achieved through both administrative means and judicial means. Where any party has committed any of such acts to infringe the exclusive right to use a registered trademark, the interested party can complain to local Administrations for Industry and Commerce at or above county level, requiring the administrations to investigate and handle the cases. The administrative authority for industry and commerce has the power to make an administrative decision to the cases which are not serious enough to constitute a crime, where the case is so serious as to constitute a crime, it shall be transferred to the judicial authority for handling. Where any interested party is dissatisfied with decision on handling the matter, it or he may, within fifteen days from the date of receipt of the notice, institute legal proceedings in the People's Court according to the Administrative Procedure Law of the People's Republic of China. If there have been instituted no legal proceedings or made on performance of the decision at the expiration of the said period, the administrative authority for industry and commerce shall request the People's Court for compulsory execution thereof. The interested party may also institute legal proceedings in the People's Court directly, and the court will protect the legitimate rights and interests of the right owner according to the Civil Procedure Law of the People's Republic of China.
(Trademark Office under the State Administration for Industry and Commerce)
