iOn April 29, 2014, the State Council promulgates the revised Implementing Regulations of the Trademark Law of the People’s Republic of China (Revised in 2014) (the Regulation), which became effective May 1, 2014. Compared to the prior version, the Regulation introduces several major changes as summarized below.
Clarification on the Calculation of Trademark Examination or Hearing Period
The PRC Trademark Law specifies the limited periods within which the Trademark Office is required to complete the examination of the trademark application and the Trademark Adjudication Board is required to complete the hearing of trademark administrative disputes (the Trademark Examination or Hearing Period).
The Regulation specifies several time periods that are excluded from the calculation of the Trademark Examination or Hearing Period, including:
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the period when the documents and announcement of the Trademark Office or the Trademark Adjudication Board are being delivered;
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the period when the applicant is preparing any additional evidence or supplementary documents;
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the time spent on the submission of evidence, negotiation, and draw;
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the time spent on waiting for a determination of priority; and
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the time spent on the hearing of prior cases related to the rights of the trademark in the current application if the applicant applies to wait for the result of such hearing.
Same-Day Applications for Similar Trademarks
The Regulation provides that if two parties apply for the same or similar trademarks for the same or similar products on the same day, the applicants are required to (i) submit prior use evidence within 30 days of receipt of a notice from the Trademark Office or (ii) attempt to resolve the matter through negotiation if their use of the marks started on the same day or if there have not been any prior use of the marks.
Partial Acceptance
Previously if a trademark application was rejected, the applicant would either have to abandon the entire application or appeal to the Trademark Adjudication Board. However, the Regulation introduces the principle that an application may be split if the application was rejected with respect to certain products but accepted with respect to others. In such case, the applicant may split the application within 15 days after receipt of the partial acceptance notification from the Trademark Office, and the accepted portion of the application can proceed to the next step in the registration process separately.
International Registration of Trademark
The Regulation contains a chapter on the international registration of trademarks based on the Madrid System. The chapter provides rules regarding (among other things) (i) the applications of international registration with China as the country of origin, and (ii) the applications designating China for territorial extension.
