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Verdict Hailed for Judging in Light of Theory of Law
As there are no written laws to decide a case involving a trade mark case between a Hong Kong company and a Guangdong company, judges from China's Supreme People's Court decided to pass their judgment on the case. This has been hailed by law experts at a recent law seminar in Beijing.
This case demonstrates the authority of the supreme court in interpreting laws when no formal laws exist.
Yang Zhenshan, law professor from the China University of Political Science and Law, pointed out that the judgment provides a good precedent in integrating Chinese judicial practice with international practice.
According to the supreme court, the relevant facts in the case are as follows:
The trade mark TMT and other two were designed, used and registered abroad by the Hong Kong-based TMT Company.
Twenty years ago, TMT authorized Guangdong Light Industrial Products Imports & Exports Co. to register the trade marks in China with the agreement that the registered trade marks would be exclusive TMT products. It was difficult for an overseas firm to register a trade mark in China when the country was just initiating economic reforms in the early 1980s.
The fact that the TMT trade marks had two users gave rise to the disputes between the two companies.
In 1998, TMT Company took out a lawsuit against the Guangdong company and in October 1998, Guangdong Provincial Higher People's Court ruled that the Guangdong company return the trade marks to TMT and TMT compensate the former a sum of 500,000 yuan (US$60,240).
The Guangdong company appealed against the ruling to the supreme court. On May 15 this year, the supreme court gave the judgment that the Guangdong company return the trade marks to TMT and TMT compensate the former a sum of 2.5 million yuan (US$301,000).
Experts believe that the verdict will play a positive role in enacting entrustment laws in China.
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