CNIPA's answers on altering and using a mark

Yes.

It must be registered again.

1. It must be registered again. 2. An unregistered logo, if used, has no exclusive-right protection; you must judge for yourself whether it infringes another registered trademark. 3. There is no rule on proportions.

Simply file a new registration application.

In that situation you may apply again using the Chinese part of the current image alone, subject to the Trademark Office's examination.

There is no mandatory requirement. Under Article 63 of the Regulations for the Implementation of the Trademark Law, a registered trademark in use may be marked with the words "registered trademark" or a registration symbol on the goods, packaging, instructions or other attachments.

No. The ® symbol can be added only after registration is approved.

1. Under Article 8 of the Trademark Law, any sign that distinguishes the goods of a natural person, legal person or other organization from those of others, including words, graphics, letters, numerals, three-dimensional signs, color combinations and sounds, and combinations of these, may be filed for registration. 2. There is no mandatory requirement.

Yes.

Yes.

The mark can be used.

Yes.

There is no mandatory requirement.

There is no such procedure.

A trademark applied for at and registered by CNIPA's Trademark Office is protected by the Trademark Law of the People's Republic of China. Whether it can be used in other countries and regions depends on local laws and regulations.

There is no such requirement.

Applicants should establish the font's copyright position before filing and determine for themselves whether it may be used free of charge.

1. Yes. 2. No.

The mark image cannot be changed.

Yes.

If the image is computer-generated, simply say so in the mark description.

Where the mark image is a virtual character, state this in the mark description.

Where the person portrayed has died, attach a document proving that the applicant is entitled to dispose of the portrait. The document must include the portrait being filed as the mark image.

Submit an authorization statement from the legal guardian of the person portrayed, agreeing that the applicant may use the portrait in a trademark application. The statement must include a copy of that person's household register, a copy of the guardian's identity card, and the portrait being filed as the mark image.

An application using another person's portrait as the mark image must say so and attach the portrait right holder's authorization. Notarization is not mandatory. The authorization must include the portrait being filed as the mark image and a copy of that person's identity card.

No.

Under Article 11 of China's Trademark Law, the following may not be registered: signs that consist only of the generic name, graphic or model of the goods; signs that only directly indicate the quality, main raw material, function, use, weight, quantity or other characteristics of the goods; and other signs lacking distinctiveness. But the law does not prohibit registration for goods or services in other classes where there is no obstacle such as an earlier right. And if, through long use and wide promotion, the applied-for sign has come to distinguish the source of goods and services, it may still be registered.