Arbitration case on Dispute of Equity Transfer: Dispute on Payment of Equity Transfer Price between One Italian company and One Zhenjiang company

One Italian company transferred its equity of one Chinese joint venture to one Zhenjiang company and the parties agree to the installment payment term.  The final payment shall be made upon the satisfaction of such requirement that the trademark registration organizations in America and Canada accept the transfer of one registered trademark from the Italian company to the Zhenjiang company within agreed time limit.  The Italian company submitted the transfer application to WIPO which was accepted within the agreed time limit while the time of the notice issued by US Patent and Trademark Office to confirm the effectiveness of the transfer of the trademark is later than the agreed time limit under the equity transfer agreement.  Therefore, the Zhenjiang company considered that the Italian company had breached the contract and refused to pay the final payment in accordance with the equity transfer agreement.  The Italian company considered that it had performed its contract obligations and entrusted legal team of Chambers Yang to raise arbitration toward CIETAC to claim the final payment of equity transfer against the Zhenjiang company.

Upon acceptance of this case, in order to clearly explain to arbitration court that the application of trademark transfer to WIPO is fully in conformity with the equity transfer agreement, legal team of Chambers Yang has not only conducted researches on relevant regulations of registration and transfer of international registered trademark under International Registration of Marks Madrid Protocol, but has also conducted researches on the procedural provisions of transfer of international registered trademark under Trademark manual inspection procedures of US Patent and Trademark Office, and has made “time axis”.  Based on these, legal team of Chambers Yang has comprehensively analyzed that the acceptance of trademark transfer application by WIPO shall be deemed the acceptance of trademark transfer application by US Patent and Trademark Office agreed under the equity transfer agreement.  Meanwhile, legal team of Chambers Yang has refuted the opinion of the Zhenjiang company through logical analysis on the relevant terms of the aforesaid regulations of WIPO and US Patent and Trademark Office.  And, our views have been fully supported by the arbitration court finally.