The State Administration for Industry and Commerce (SAIC) recently issues Some Opinions on the Promotion of the Development of the Service Industry (hereafter referred to as the Opinions), requiring administrations for industry and commerce of various regions to strengthen market supervision while providing active services to the development of the service industry by severely dealing with activities of infringing trademarks, trade names and other IPRs in the service industry.

According to the Opinions, administrations for industry and commerce of various regions should fully play their functioning roles to supply active services for the development of the service industry. They should actively encourage enterprises to register service trademarks, supply good services to the registration work and strengthen the confirmation and protection of renowned and famous service trademarks. Efforts should be made to actively learn about the trademark registration and protection of enterprises of service industry in foreign countries, attach importance to enterprises’ trademark protection work abroad, guide and encourage enterprises to maintain their trademark rights and interests in foreign countries according to local laws and international regulations and bring the roles of trademark registration and right maintenance in the strategy of “going global” and internationalized operation. They should actively strive for establishing the funds for enterprises to safeguard their rights and interests abroad and resolutely oppose the registration in foreign countries of the trademarks that damage China’s image such as “Not Made in China.”

The Opinions point out that various regions should standardize the orders in service markets through establishing transparent, just and standardized supervision systems. The practices of infringing the trademarks, trade names and other IPRs of service enterprises should be severely dealt with. Meanwhile, unfair competition, restrictive competition and monopoly in service market should be banned to protect independent innovation, maintain consumers’ legal rights and interests and create the sound market environment of orderly competition.

The Opinions clarify that administrations for industry and commerce of various regions should support investors to establish a service enterprise with non-cash contribution such as IPRs. The highest proportion of non-cash contribution can be 70 percent of the enterprise’s registered capital.