CHINA Law and Practice Contributed by: Chuanhong Long, Bin Zhang, Cuicui Liang and Lei Fu, CCPIT Patent and Trademark Law Office
either word or device marks. The required information includes the trade mark, class and goods/services
Article 4 of the Chinese Trademark Law, an applica - tion to register a malicious trade mark, not intended for use, will be rejected. Usually, the CNIPA will judge whether the trade mark is not intended for use by the filing number. If the applicant files a large number of applications in one day, the CNIPA may issue an offi - cial notice. 4.6 Consideration of Prior Rights in Registration During the examination of the application for registra - tion, the CNIPA considers prior trade mark applica - tions. If the application is rejected by citing a similar trade mark, the new trade mark can only be registered if the cited mark is removed by filing a non-use cancel - lation or other action. Currently, the CNIPA is reluctant to accept a letter of consent if the two trade marks are very similar. The rejection can be overcome by the assignment of the cited mark. The CNIPA will very possibly reject an application if a trade mark is a copy of another well-known trade mark, or if it uses the names of celebrities, martyrs, etc. 4.7 Revocation, Change, Amendment or Correction of an Application During the process of registration, if the goods/ser - vice description is non-standard, the CNIPA will issue an official notification and the applicant can amend the description by filing a response to the notifica - tion. Otherwise, the applicant is only allowed to delete some goods/services, but not amend the description. If the name or address of the applicant is incorrect, the applicant can file a recordal of correction with the CNIPA to amend it. Material alterations are not allowed. 4.8 Dividing a Trade Mark Application It is possible to divide a trade mark application. How - ever, a divisional application may only be filed after a mark has been partially refused by the CNIPA. The divisional application must be filed with the CNIPA within 15 days of receipt of the refusal notification. A divisional application is irrevocable.
description to be covered. 4.3 Term of Registration A registered mark is valid for ten years.
Once expired, the trade mark owner can still file a renewal within the grace period (ie, within six months after the expiry date). If no renewal is filed, even in the grace period, the mark will be invalid and the trade mark owner has no way to restore it. A new trade mark application will need to be filed if the trade mark owner still wants to protect the mark in China. 4.4 Application Requirements The formal requirements to register a trade mark include the following: • the name and address of the applicant; • a clear trade mark sample in electronic form with high resolution; • the class and goods/services of the items covered; • a power of attorney signed by the applicant; and • a copy of the commercial registry (certificate of good standing) for a company applicant, or a copy of the passport or ID card of an individual appli - cant. Any natural person, legal person or other organisation can apply for trade mark registration with the CNIPA. Foreign applicants are required to appoint and be rep - resented by a legally established trade mark agency in their country. Multi-class applications are permitted under the Chi - nese Trademark Law, with no statutory restriction on filing, but practical considerations may apply. The official fee for filing an application for one trade mark in one class (within ten items of goods/services) is CNY270. If the number of items exceeds ten, there will be a CNY27 charge for each item over ten, in addi - tion to the CNY 270. 4.5 Use in Commerce Prior to Registration In China, there is no requirement to use a trade mark before registration is issued. However, according to
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