Analysis Of The Effective Application Of The System Of Punitive Damages For Trademark Infringement In Chinese Courts

Today,the process of economic globalization is accelerating,and knowledge is becoming the core element of international competitiveness.To avoid falling behind,China continues to strengthen intellectual property protection and strive to promote international cooperation in intellectual property.The provision of “punitive damages” was newly added in Article 63,when the Trademark Law of the People's Republic of China was amended in 2013.The establishment of the punitive damages system helps to solve the problem in practice that the IP right is often infringed at very low cost while the protection thereof needs higher expenses.It is able to the right holders to be more active in right protection and deter infringers or potential infringers as well.However,since the provision of punitive damages was introduced in Trademark Law six years ago,it has rarely been applied in judicial practice and it is difficult to really play a role.Through a combination of theoretical and empirical research,I have analyzed cases of trademark infringement within one year in Beijing and Shanghai.I analyzed the factors affecting the compensation,such as the plaintiff's request,the circumstances of the evidence,the standard of award,the amount of award,and the cost of litigation.In addition,I also analyzed five cases of punitive damages for trademark infringement in detail.On this basis,I tried to analyze the reasons why punitive damages cannot be applied in judicial practice and put forward my suggestions,so that the system of punitive damages for trademark infringement could be truly and effectively applied.This paper is divided into three parts in addition to introduction and conclusion.The first part discusses the nature and function of the system of punitive damages for trademark infringement.Punitive damages are fundamentally different from compensatory damages.The functions of punitive damages mainly include punishment,deterrence,compensation and incentive.The second part analyzes the current situation of the application of punitive damages for trademark infringement in practice,and analyzes the main reasons for this situation,including the fact that victims rarely apply for punitive compensation,the application requirements of punitive damages for trademark infringement are not clear,the calculation base is difficult to determine,and the statutory compensation is too general.The third part puts forward some suggestions for improving the effective application of punitive damages system for trademark infringement in terms of application requirements,the improvement of the judicial system,and the creation of a good environment.