CHINA PATENT & TRADEMARK LAW OFFICE
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    • Why do you need to register a trademark in China
    • What do you need to do to register a Chinese trademark
    • The Difference Between Copyright, Trademark and Patent
    • How And Why To Trademark In China
    • How do I protect myself from Intellectual Property Theft in China
    • How To Protect Your Intellectual Propery (IP) Rights In China
    • 7 Steps to Protect Your Intellectual Property in China
    • China is strengthening intellectual property protection
    • What should a foreign business know about filing a trademark in China
    • A Guide to the Chinese Trademark Registration Process
    • Why you should file your trademark in China now
    • Why is a Trademark Watch Important
    • Differences Between Trademark and Copyright
    • Avoiding IP Infringement with Chinese Sourcing
    • Cracking down trademark squatters under amended trademark law in China
    • How China is acting to combat bad faith trademarks
    • Intellectual Property protection when doing business in China
    • China's intellectual property rights protection improved to create a sound business environment
    • China’s race to become global intellectual property leader
    • China strengthens intellectual property rights protection prior to Beijing 2022
    • Important Trademark Development from China for 2022: What US Brand Owners Need to Know
    • How to Protect Trademarks in China
    • A simple guide to intellectual property in China
    • An Overview of the Latest Amendment to the Chinese Patent Law
    • What We Do When Trademark Squatters Get Smarter in China
    • The most important patent and IP business developments in China in 2021
    • A simple guide to trademark registration in China
    • Protecting your intellectual property in China
    • How To Enforce Intellectual Property Rights In China
    • What China’s new patent laws mean for life sciences
    • China extends lead over U.S. in global patents filings, U.N. says
    • What Do China’s High Patent Numbers Really Mean
    • How to Protect Your Intellectual Property Rights in China
    • Protecting your intellectual property in China
    • Procedure of filing trademark in China
    • The Importance of Having a Chinese Brand Name
    • Why Does Hong Kong Attract International Businesses
    • What’s the Difference Between Patents, Copyrights and Trademarks
    • How to initiate a trademark infringement civil proceedings in China
    • How to Brand your products for the Huge China Market and Reduce Your Risk
    • 8 Trademark Mistakes Your Start-Up Must Avoid
    • What’s the Difference Between OEM and ODM Products
    • What the amendment to Article 4 of the Chinese Trademark Law means for bad-faith trademark filings
    • China starts rebuff of various metaverse trademark applications amid rush to hype the internet’s next generation
    • China, US and Hong Kong trademarks – A quick guide
    • Working with Chinese Trademark Agencies – A Dangerous Game, or Delicate Tightrope
    • China will improve its IP system
    • 12 Intellectual property Protection Tip
    • How to protect your brand in China
    • China Trademark And Brand Development Index 2021: Which Are China's Top Provinces
    • Must I Register My Company Name as a Trademark in China?
    • What You Need to Know About China Trademark Registration as a Foreigner
    • How to File a Trademark in China
    • How to Register a Patent in China
    • How to effectively deal with the preemptive registered trademark in China
    • China’s Trademark Regime: How to Protect Your Brand in the Mainland
    • China Issues Stricter Rules on Trademark Use
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To many trademark owners’ dismay, China’s first-to-file system has contributed to a rise in malicious trademark filings and hoarding, as well as an increase in bad-faith trademark applications. This has not only seriously affected the trademark registration procedure, but has also infringed on other market entities’ legitimate rights and interests in the Chinese market.

According to the amended Article 4 of the Chinese Trademark Law, any natural or legal person or organisation that needs to obtain the exclusive rights to use a mark for its goods or services can apply for trademark registration at the China National IP Administration (CNIPA).

Article 4 stipulates that the CNIPA will reject any applications for trademarks that are not intended to be used and provides the grounds for initiating an opposition or invalidation action and effectively cracking down on malicious filings. Among other provisions, it gives examiners the legal grounds to reject bad-faith applications during the substantial examination stage.

The updates to the law provide a clear legal basis for regulating malicious trademark registrations and a comprehensive mechanism for combatting bad-faith filings and hoardings at any point in the trademark lifecycle. As a result, a bad-faith application may be:
  • rejected as early as the substantial examination stage;
  • prohibited from registration after preliminary publication;
  • declared invalid after registration or cancelled for non-use three years after registration; or
  • investigated for civil liability for infringement.
To facilitate the implementation of the amended Article 4, the State Administration of Market Regulation and the Beijing High People’s Court have issued documents that provide clear guidance on its application.

The State Administration of Market Regulation’s Provisions on Regulating Trademark Applications for Registration came into effect on 1 December 2019. Article 8 states as follows:
The following factors could be comprehensively taken into consideration by the relevant trademark registration department in determining whether the trademark registration application is in violation of Article 4 of the Trademark Law: (1) the amount of registered trademarks applied for by the applicant or the natural person, legal person or other organization associated with the applicant, the classes designated, the trademark transaction situation, etc; (2) The industry and business operation status of the applicant; (3) The applicant has been determined by an effective administrative decision or ruling or judicial judgment to have engaged in malicious trademark filings or trademark infringement against others’ exclusive trademark rights; (4) The trademark applied for is same as or similar to the others’ trademark with certain reputation; (5) The trademark applied for registration is same as or similar to the name of a well-known person, company trade name, abbreviation of trade name, or other business logos; (6) other factors.
The Beijing High People’s Court issued the Guidelines for the Trial of Trademark Right Granting and Verification Cases, which also list the ways in which to apply Article 4. This stipulates as follows:
If any trademark applicant obviously lacks the true intention of use and is under any of the following circumstances, this applicant may be determined to violate the provisions of Article 4 of the Trademark Law: (1) applying for registration of the trademark identical with or similar to that of various subjects with certain popularity or higher distinctiveness, which is regarded as a serious circumstance; (2) applying for registration of the trademark identical with or similar to that of the same subject with certain popularity or higher distinctiveness, which is regarded as a serious circumstance; (3) applying for registration of the trademark identical with or similar to any other commercial signs other than trademarks of others, which is regarded as a serious circumstance; (4) applying for registration of the trademark identical with or similar to any name of place, scenic spot, building and others with certain popularity, which is regarded as a serious circumstance; (5) applying for registration of a large number of trademarks without good reasons. If the trademark applicant above claims that he has the true intention of use, but fails to present the relevant evidence, this claim shall not be supported.
It takes significant investigation to determine whether a trademark application constitutes an instance of bad-faith filing or hoarding. As an interested party, the legitimate trademark owner may already have evidence – or be more capable of presenting evidence – to show the applicant’s bad faith. In order to provide sufficient evidence of bad faith, it is usually recommended to file a written request for an ex officio refusal against a pending trademark once it has been filed or before it is published. This will assist CNIPA examiners in assessing whether the applicant has filed the mark in bad faith and whether it is appropriate to reject the application by adopting Article 4 during the substantial examination stage. If the CNIPA supports the claim, the trademark will be rejected at this stage.
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  • Home
  • About
  • IP Services
    • Trademark
    • Patent
    • Utility Model
    • Design
    • Copyright
  • Translation
  • News
    • Why do you need to register a trademark in China
    • What do you need to do to register a Chinese trademark
    • The Difference Between Copyright, Trademark and Patent
    • How And Why To Trademark In China
    • How do I protect myself from Intellectual Property Theft in China
    • How To Protect Your Intellectual Propery (IP) Rights In China
    • 7 Steps to Protect Your Intellectual Property in China
    • China is strengthening intellectual property protection
    • What should a foreign business know about filing a trademark in China
    • A Guide to the Chinese Trademark Registration Process
    • Why you should file your trademark in China now
    • Why is a Trademark Watch Important
    • Differences Between Trademark and Copyright
    • Avoiding IP Infringement with Chinese Sourcing
    • Cracking down trademark squatters under amended trademark law in China
    • How China is acting to combat bad faith trademarks
    • Intellectual Property protection when doing business in China
    • China's intellectual property rights protection improved to create a sound business environment
    • China’s race to become global intellectual property leader
    • China strengthens intellectual property rights protection prior to Beijing 2022
    • Important Trademark Development from China for 2022: What US Brand Owners Need to Know
    • How to Protect Trademarks in China
    • A simple guide to intellectual property in China
    • An Overview of the Latest Amendment to the Chinese Patent Law
    • What We Do When Trademark Squatters Get Smarter in China
    • The most important patent and IP business developments in China in 2021
    • A simple guide to trademark registration in China
    • Protecting your intellectual property in China
    • How To Enforce Intellectual Property Rights In China
    • What China’s new patent laws mean for life sciences
    • China extends lead over U.S. in global patents filings, U.N. says
    • What Do China’s High Patent Numbers Really Mean
    • How to Protect Your Intellectual Property Rights in China
    • Protecting your intellectual property in China
    • Procedure of filing trademark in China
    • The Importance of Having a Chinese Brand Name
    • Why Does Hong Kong Attract International Businesses
    • What’s the Difference Between Patents, Copyrights and Trademarks
    • How to initiate a trademark infringement civil proceedings in China
    • How to Brand your products for the Huge China Market and Reduce Your Risk
    • 8 Trademark Mistakes Your Start-Up Must Avoid
    • What’s the Difference Between OEM and ODM Products
    • What the amendment to Article 4 of the Chinese Trademark Law means for bad-faith trademark filings
    • China starts rebuff of various metaverse trademark applications amid rush to hype the internet’s next generation
    • China, US and Hong Kong trademarks – A quick guide
    • Working with Chinese Trademark Agencies – A Dangerous Game, or Delicate Tightrope
    • China will improve its IP system
    • 12 Intellectual property Protection Tip
    • How to protect your brand in China
    • China Trademark And Brand Development Index 2021: Which Are China's Top Provinces
    • Must I Register My Company Name as a Trademark in China?
    • What You Need to Know About China Trademark Registration as a Foreigner
    • How to File a Trademark in China
    • How to Register a Patent in China
    • How to effectively deal with the preemptive registered trademark in China
    • China’s Trademark Regime: How to Protect Your Brand in the Mainland
    • China Issues Stricter Rules on Trademark Use
    • News
    • News
  • Contact