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Order of the State Council
(No. 699)
The revised Regulation on the Protection of Olympic Symbols is hereby issued,
and shall come into force on July 31, 2018.
Premier: Li Keqiang
June 28, 2018
Regulation on the Protection of Olympic Symbols
(Issued by Order No. 345 of the State Council of the People's Republic of China
on February 4, 2002, and revised by Order No. 699 of the State Council of the
People's Republic of China on June 28, 2018)
Article 1 This Regulation is
developed for the purposes of strengthening the protection of Olympic symbols,
safeguarding the lawful rights and interests of the right holders of Olympic
symbols and promoting the development of the Olympic Movement.
Article 2 For the purposes of
this Regulation, “Olympic symbols” means the following:
(1) The Olympic symbol of five interlaced rings, the Olympic flag, the Olympic
motto, the Olympic emblem and the Olympic anthem of the International Olympic
Committee.
(2) The exclusive expressions such as “Olympic,” “Olympia,” and “Olympic Games”
and the abbreviations thereof.
(3) The name, emblem and symbol of the Chinese Olympic Committee.
(4) The name, emblem and symbol of the institution that applies for hosting the
Olympic Games inside China.
(5) The name, abbreviation, mascots, anthem, torch modeling, slogan, “Name of
the Host City + Year of the Olympic Games” and other symbols of the Olympic
Games hosted inside China, and the name and emblem of the organizer thereof.
(6) Other symbols related to the Olympic Games hosted inside China laid down in
the Olympic Charter and the Host City Contract for the relevant Olympic Games.
Article 3 For the purpose of
this Regulation, “right holders of Olympic symbols” means the International
Olympic Committee, the Chinese Olympic Committee and the organization that
applies for hosting the Olympic Games inside China, and the organizer of the
Olympic Games hosted inside China.
The rights of the International Olympic Committee, the Chinese Olympic
Committee, the organization that applies for hosting the Olympic Games inside
China, and the organizer of the Olympic Games hosted inside China,
respectively, shall be determined in accordance with the Olympic Charter and
the Host City Contract for the relevant Olympic Games.
Article 4 The right holders of
Olympic symbols shall enjoy the exclusive rights to the Olympic symbols in
accordance with this Regulation.
No one may use Olympic symbols for commercial purposes without the
authorization of the right holders of the Olympic symbols.
Article 5 For the purpose of
this Regulation, “use for commercial purposes” means the use of Olympic symbols
for profit-making purposes in the following ways:
(1) Using Olympic symbols on commodities, commodity packages or containers, or
commodity trading documents.
(2) Using Olympic symbols in services.
(3) Using Olympic symbols in advertising and publicity, commercial exhibitions,
for-profit performances and other commercial activities.
(4) Selling, importing or exporting commodities bearing Olympic symbols.
(5) Producing or selling Olympic symbols.
(6) Other acts of using Olympic symbols for profits.
Article 6 Unless otherwise
provided for in Article 5 of this Regulation, the utilization of elements
related to the Olympic Movement which might mislead people into believingthat
there are sponsorship or other support relations between the users and the
right holders of the Olympic Symbols or constitutes unfair competition shall be
handled in accordance with the Anti-Unfair Competition Law of the People's Republic
of China.
Article 7 The market
regulatory department and the intellectual property department of the State
Council shall, in accordance with the provisions of this Regulation, be
responsible for the protection of Olympic symbols throughout the country.
The local market regulatory departments at or above the county level shall, in
accordance with the provisions of this Regulation, be responsible for the
protection of Olympic symbols within their respective administrative regions.
Article 8 The right holders of
Olympic symbols shall submit the Olympic symbols to the intellectual property
department of the State Council which shall then make an announcement of the
Olympic symbols.
Article 9 An Olympic symbol
shall be valid for ten years, commencing from the date of announcement.
The right holder of an Olympic symbol may, within 12 months before the
expiration of the valid period of the Olympic symbol, undergo the renewal
formalities, with each renewal valid for ten years which commences from the day
after the expiration of the last valid period of the Olympic symbol. The intellectual
property department of the State Council shall announce the renewal of the
Olympic symbols.
Article 10 Whoever is to use
Olympic symbols for commercial purposes with the authorization of their right
holders shall conclude licensing contracts with such right holders. The right
holders of Olympic symbols shall disclose in a timely manner the types of the
Olympic symbols licensed for use, the licensees, the commodities or services
licensed for use, periods for and the territorial scope of the licensed use,
etc.
Licensees shall use Olympic symbols within the scope of the types of Olympic
symbols, the licensees, the commodities or services licensed for use, and the
periods for and territorial scope of the licensed use as agreed on in licensing
contracts.
Article 11 The Olympic symbols
that have been legally used before this Regulation comes into force may
continue to be used within the original scope.
Article 12 Where a dispute
arises from the use of Olympic symbols for commercial purposes without the authorization
of the right holders of the Olympic symbols, or the use of similar symbols that
might mislead people, that is, from the infringement upon the exclusive rights
to Olympic symbols, it may be settled by the parties through negotiations; and
if the parties are unwilling to negotiate with each other or the negotiations
fail, the right holders of the Olympic symbols or the interested parties may
institute legal proceedings in a people's court or request the market
regulatory department to handle the dispute. Where the market regulatory
department determines that an infringement is constituted, it shall order an
immediate stop of the infringement, and confiscate or destroy the infringing
commodities and the tools specially used to produce the infringing commodities
or to produce the Olympic symbols for unauthorized commercial purposes. If the
amount of illegal operations is 50,000 yuan or more, it shall impose a fine of
less than five times the amount of illegal operations; or if there is no amount
of illegal operations or the amount of illegal operations is less than 50,000
yuan, it may impose a fine of not more than 250,000 yuan. A party that refuses
to accept a ruling may apply for administrative reconsideration in accordance
with the Administrative Reconsideration Law of the People's
Republic of China, or directly institute an action in a
people's court in accordance with the Administrative Litigation Law of the People's
Republic of China. Upon the request by the parties, the
market regulatory department that handles the dispute may mediate over the
amount of compensation for the infringement upon the exclusive rights to
Olympic symbols; and if the mediation fails, the parties may institute legal
proceedings in a people's court in accordance with the Civil Procedure Law of the People's Republic of China
Whoever conducts swindle or other illegal activities by using
Olympic symbols, and a crime is constituted, he or she shall be held criminally
liable in accordance with the law.
Article 13 The market
regulatory department shall have the right to investigate and punish the acts
that infringe upon the exclusive rights to Olympic symbols in accordance with
the law.
When the market regulatory department investigates and punishes the suspected
infringements upon the exclusive rights to Olympic symbols based on the
obtained evidence or report on suspected illegal acts, it may exercise the
following powers:
(1) Interviewing the relevant parties, and investigating the information related
to the infringements upon the exclusive rights to Olympic symbols.
(2) Consulting or duplicating the contracts, invoices, accounting books and
other relevant materials related to the infringements.
(3) Conducting on-the-spot inspection of the places where the parties are
suspected to infringe upon the exclusive rights to Olympic symbols.
(4) Inspecting the articles related to the infringements, seizing or impounding
the articles that infringe upon the exclusive rights to Olympic symbols as
proved by evidence.
A party shall provide be cooperative in the market regulatory department's
exercise of its powers as prescribed in the preceding paragraph in accordance
with the Law, and shall not refuse to do so or obstruct the department's
exercise of powers.
Article 14 Where imported or
exported goods are suspected of infringing upon the exclusive rights to Olympic
symbols, the Customs shall investigate and punish the acts by reference to the
powers and procedures as prescribed in the Customs Law of the People's Republic of China and the Regulation of the People's Republic of China on the
Customs Protection of Intellectual Property Rights.
Article 15 The compensation for
the infringement upon the exclusive right to an Olympic symbol shall be
determined based on the losses suffered by the right holder from the infringement
or the benefits acquired by the infringer from the infringement, including the
reasonable disbursements made to stop the infringement; and if it is difficult
to determine the losses suffered by the infringed or the benefits acquired by
the infringer, it shall be determined in a reasonable manner by reference to
the relevant licensing fees for the Olympic symbol.
Where a seller of commodities infringing upon the exclusive right to an Olympic
symbol without awareness of such infringement is able to prove that the
commodities it has legally acquired and provide the information of the
supplier, the seller shall not be held responsible for compensation.
Article 16 In addition to being
protected in accordance with this Regulation, Olympic symbols may also be protected
under the Copyright Law of the People's Republic of China,
the Trademark Law of the People's Republic of China,
the Patent Law of the People's Republic of China,
the Regulation on Administration of Special Symbols and other laws and administrative regulations.
Article 17 The protection of
the relevant symbols of the Paralympic Games shall be governed mutatis mutandis
by this Regulation.
Article 18 This Regulation
shall come into force on July 31, 2018.
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