CNIPA's answers on refusal, opposition and Madrid

Under Article 10 of the Implementing Regulations of the Trademark Law, as to the date on which the Trademark Office or the Trademark Review and Adjudication Board serves any document on a party: for documents sent by mail, the postmark date of the party's receipt governs; documents served by data message are deemed served on the party once 15 days have passed from the date the document was sent.

Division is free of charge. If you file for neither a refusal review nor division, the goods covered by the preliminary approval announcement are announced.

First, the Trademark Office examines under the Trademark Law, the Trademark Examination and Trial Guidelines, and related laws and regulations. Each trademark filed for registration is carefully examined; if it complies with the relevant provisions of the Trademark Law, it receives a preliminary approval announcement. Any trademark that does not comply with the relevant provisions of this Law is refused by the Trademark Office and is not announced.

Second, the legal basis for examining marks suspected of being misleading or having adverse effects is: Article 10, paragraph 1, item (7) of the Trademark Law, those that are deceptive and likely to mislead the public about characteristics of the goods such as quality, or about their place of origin; and Article 10, paragraph 1, item (8), those that are harmful to socialist morals or have other adverse effects.

Specific explanation:

1. Whether a sign is misleading must be analyzed specifically in light of the characteristics of the designated goods or services themselves. For example, “好土” (literally “very rustic”) used on “eggs” is likely to mislead consumers about characteristics of the goods such as grade, quality and method of rearing, and falls within this type of misleading case;

2. In judging whether a sign has adverse effects, this generally means that the words, figures or other elements of the sign have a derogatory meaning, or that the sign, though not derogatory in itself, if registered and used by that applicant, is likely to have a negative effect on China's political, economic, cultural, religious, ethnic or other social public interests and public order. The elements of the sign and the designated goods or services are considered as well. For example, "叫个鸭子" (literally "call a duck") as a trademark is likely to produce an adverse social effect and falls within this type of adverse-effect case.

Third, the examination of each individual trademark is a systematic and complex process. It requires a comprehensive assessment of the filed trademark drawing itself, its elements and the designated goods or service items, and consideration of the accurate and proper application of the specific provisions of the Trademark Law.

For more details, please log in to the China Trademark Office website and consult Part Two, Chapter 3, Sections 3.7 and 3.8 of the Trademark Examination and Trial Guidelines 2021 and related content for reference.

After losing your defense in an invalidation, you may file a lawsuit with the Beijing Intellectual Property Court.

Once a decision has been made in an opposition case, an application to withdraw the opposition cannot be filed.

After a territorial extension mark is cancelled, the Trademark Office does not prepare a cancellation announcement. Under Article 44 of the Implementing Regulations of the Trademark Law, the World Intellectual Property Organization publishes matters concerning the international registration of trademarks, and the Trademark Office does not publish a separate announcement.

Yes. Under Article 10 of the Implementing Regulations of the Trademark Law, as to the date on which the Trademark Office or the Trademark Review and Adjudication Board serves any document on a party: for documents sent by mail, the postmark date of the party's receipt governs; documents served by data message are deemed served on the party once 15 days have passed from the date the document was sent.

(1) Generally, the date on which the refusal period for the international registration in China expires is the starting point for counting three full years of registration.

For an international registration under the Madrid Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Marks, the refusal period expires 12 months after the "notification date" stated on the application documents received by the trademark registration authority. For an international registration under the Protocol Relating to the Madrid Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Marks, it expires 18 months after the "notification date" stated on those documents. For contracting parties to both the Madrid Agreement and the Protocol, under Article 9sexies of the Protocol, it expires 12 months after the "notification date" stated on those documents.

(2) Where there is a partial refusal in the territorial extension procedure, the period for the approved goods or services shall run from the date on which the refusal period for extending those goods or services to China expires.

(3) Where refusal review or opposition proceedings are still pending when the refusal period expires, the period runs from the date the decision granting registration takes effect.

(4) Where a decision granting registration made in refusal review or opposition proceedings has taken effect before the refusal period expires, the period runs from the date the refusal period expires.