At the beginning of the new year, Jiangjiao Online, the National College Entrance Examination score inquiry website under the Jiangxi Provincial Department of Education of China, has triggered extensive heated public discussions on the Internet. According to relevant information, the database of the aforesaid website was deleted, and the incident is colloquially dubbed "database deletion and absconding". Had this incident taken place during the National College Entrance Examination score inquiry period, it would have affected tens of millions of examinees.
Against the backdrop of the current rapid development of the cultural and entertainment industry, Multi-Channel Network (MCN) institutions have risen rapidly as an emerging industrial force. As a leading player in this field, AB Entertainment has accumulated high reputation in the industry, garnered a large number of fans and abundant business resources by virtue of its successfully registered "AB Media" trademark. Recently, however, AB Entertainment has encountered a thorny issue: a number of enterprises have emerged on the market whose registered enterprise names are highly similar to the "AB Media" trademark, such as Beijing AB Cultural Media Co., Ltd. and Guangxi AB Cultural Media Technology Co., Ltd. Most of these enterprises are engaged in business sectors related to AB Entertainment, which undoubtedly increases the likelihood of consumer confusion. In this regard, do these seemingly lawfully registered enterprise names constitute infringement? Is AB Entertainment entitled to demand that these enterprises change their names? In the following sections, this article will conduct an in-depth analysis of the aforesaid issues from the perspectives of the Trademark Law and the Anti-Unfair Competition Law in combination with relevant judicial precedents, and provide practical suggestions for enterprises to avoid such legal risks.
2024 marks a critical year for the micro-short drama industry as it enters the 2.0 era. According to statistics, 12,000 enterprises engaged in micro-short drama-related businesses were registered in the Chinese mainland in 2020. As of November 2024, the number of newly registered micro-short drama enterprises in China has reached 16,100. Apart from the growth in the number of micro-short drama enterprises, the user scale of micro-short dramas has expanded at an even faster rate. According to the statistical data of the *2024 White Paper on the Development of China's Micro-Short Drama Industry*, in the first half of 2024 alone, the number of micro-short drama users in China has reached 576 million, accounting for 52.4% of the total Internet users, which exceeds the number of users of other online cultural and social services. In 2024, regions including Beijing, Shanghai, Zhejiang and Henan have issued a variety of supporting policies for micro-short dramas, which demonstrates the state's emphasis on the cultural industry of micro-short dramas. Accordingly, we hold the view that the micro-short drama industry will achieve more vigorous development in 2025 and attract more investors to enter the market.
Gyms, educational institutions, as well as beauty and hairdressing establishments generally adopt the prepaid consumption model, under which consumers make a large lump-sum prepayment to offset their consumption expenses over the subsequent six months or one year. The aforesaid entities often use such sales gimmicks as "monthly cards are cheaper than per-visit cards" and "annual cards are cheaper than monthly cards" to induce consumers to recharge their prepaid accounts. After consumers complete the recharge, merchants frequently abscond before the prepaid funds or purchased courses are fully consumed. In recent years, cases involving the abscondence of the aforesaid merchants have been too numerous to enumerate, with countless victims who have no access to effective channels to safeguard their lawful rights and interests.
