Case Summary:

***. (hereinafter referred to as the represented party) is a renowned Bulgarian company in the personal care and cosmetics industry, with its "****" oral care products achieving widespread sales across numerous countries and regions. On December 3, 2014, *** Import and Export Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as the agent) entered into an agency agreement with the represented party, set to take effect on January 5, 2015, conditionally agreeing to apply for the "****" trademark on behalf of the represented party. However, the agent submitted the application for the disputed trademark prior to the agreement's activation and subsequently failed to fulfill their stipulated contractual obligations. The represented party contended that the agent's trademark application violated Article 15(1) of the Trademark Law and thus sought trademark invalidation. The Intellectual Property Office approved the invalidation of the trademark on the grounds of violating Article 15(1) of the Trademark Law.

Legal Commentary:

In this case, CHISPO argued that the clause within the agency agreement, wherein the represented party consented to the agent's trademark application, was deceptive and did not reflect the agent’s true intent. Furthermore, this clause ran contrary to the principles of equal rights and obligations due to the agent's breach of the agreement and additional breaches observed in other cases. It was eventually held that the agent secured the agency agreement through deceptive means. Thus, the agent's trademark application lacked genuine consent from the represented party and fell under the circumstances stipulated by Article 15(1) of the Trademark Law.