Implementing Regulations of the Trademark Law of the People's Republic of China (Revised in 2014)
Implementing Regulations of the Trademark Law of the People's Republic of China (Revised in 2014)
Implementing Regulations of the Trademark Law of the People's Republic of China (Revised in 2014)
Order of the State Council of the People's Republic of China No.651
April 29, 2014
The revised Implementing Regulations of the Trademark Law of the People's Republic of China are hereby promulgated for implementation as of May 1, 2014.
Premier Li Keqiang
Implementing Regulations of the Trademark Law of the People's Republic of China
(Promulgated under Order of the State Council of the People's Republic of China No.358 on August 3, 2002 and revised under Order of the State Council of the People's Republic of China No.651 on April 29, 2014)
Chapter I General Provisions
Article 1 The Implementing Regulations of the Trademark Law of the People's Republic of China (hereinafter referred to as the "Regulations") are enacted pursuant to the Trademark Law of the People's Republic of China (hereafter referred to as the "Trademark Law").
Article 2 The provisions of the Regulations that pertain to commodities trademarks shall apply to service trademarks.
Article 3 Where trademark holders apply for protection for well-known trademarks in accordance with the provisions specified in Article 13 of the Trademark Law, they shall submit materials that can prove the trademark constitutes a well-known trademark. The Trademark Office and Trademark Appeal Board shall, in accordance with the provisions of Article 14 of the Trademark Law and based on the needs of examination and handling of cases and the evidence materials submitted by the party concerned, decide whether the trademark constitutes a well-known trademark.
(Relevant articles: Legislation 1)
Article 4 Geographical indicators as stipulated in Article 16 of the Trademark Law may, according to the provisions of the Trademark Law and the Regulations, be registered as certification marks or collective marks.
Where a geographical indicator is registered as a certification mark, the natural person, legal person or other organization whose commodities meet the conditions for use of the said geographical indicator may request authorization to use the certification mark, and the organization that controls the certification mark in question shall consent. In the event that a geographical indicator is registered as a collective mark, the natural person, legal person or other organization whose commodities meet the conditions for use of the said geographical indicator may request authorization to become a member of the body, society or other organization that has registered the geographical indicator as a collective mark, and the body, society or other organization shall accept them to be a member, according to its articles of association. A party who has not requested authorization to become a member of the body, society or other organization that has registered a geographical indicator as a collective mark, may also have justification to use the said geographical indicator, shall not be forbidden to do so by the relevant body, society or other organization.
Article 5 In order to entrust a trademark agency to apply on its behalf for a trademark registration or handle other matters pertaining to a trademark; the party concerned shall present a power of attorney. The power of attorney shall clearly specify the agency's details and the parameters of their power. If the client is a foreigner or foreign enterprise, the power of attorney shall specify the nationality of the client.
The principle of reciprocity shall be observed in the notarization or attestation of powers of attorney by foreigners or foreign enterprises, as well as other relevant certification documents.
Where, in the application for trademark registration or transfer of a trademark, the applicant for the trademark registration or the transferee of the trademark is a foreigner or foreign enterprise, he/it shall appoint in the application the receivers within the territory of China responsible for receiving the legal documents of subsequent trademark business of the Trademark Office and the Trademark Appeal Board, which shall be sent to the receivers within the territory of China.
A foreigner or foreign enterprise as mentioned in Article 18 of the Trademark Law refers to a foreigner or foreign enterprise that does not have a permanent residence or business address within China.
(Relevant articles: Legislation 1)
Article 6 The applications for trademark registration or the handling of other matters pertaining to a trademark shall be in Chinese.
In the event that any of the certificates, certification documents or supporting material evidence submitted as pursuant to the provisions of the Trademark Law and the Regulations are in a foreign language, Chinese versions of the said documents shall be attached. If no Chinese version is attached, it shall be deemed that the certificate, certification document or supporting material evidence has not been submitted.
Article 7 A member of staff from the Trademark Office or the Trademark Appeal Board shall stand down from a case, and the party concerned or interested parties may request them to stand down from the case if any of the following circumstances apply to the member of staff in question:
1. the member of staff is the party concerned or a close relative of the party concerned or of an agent engaged in employment by the party concerned;
2. the member of staff has another relationship with the party concerned or an agent engaged in employment by the party concerned, the nature of which may affect impartiality; and
3. the member of staff has a vested interest in the application for trademark registration or in the handling of other matters pertaining to a trademark.
(Relevant articles: Legislation 1)
Article 8 Documents related to application for trademark registration submitted by data message in accordance with the provisions of Article 22 of the Trademark Law shall be submitted by Internet in accordance with the provisions of the Trademark Office or the Trademark Appeal Board.
Article 9 Unless it is otherwise provided in Article 18 hereof, in the event that a party concerned submits documents or materials to the Trademark Office or the Trademark Appeal Board directly, the date when they submit the said documents or materials shall be deemed the date of submission. If the documents or materials are submitted by mail, the date when they are mailed as indicated by a relevant postmark shall be deemed the date of submission. In the event that a postmark is not clear or there is no postmark, the date when the Trademark Office or the Trademark Appeal Board actually receives the documents or materials shall be deemed the date of submission unless the party concerned can otherwise prove the actual postmark. If the documents or materials are submitted by an express enterprise other than the postal enterprises, the date when the express enterprise receives the documents or materials shall be deemed the date of submission. In the event that the date when the express enterprise receives the documents or materials is not clear, the date when the Trademark Office or the Trademark Appeal Board actually receives the documents or materials shall be deemed the date of submission unless the party concerned can otherwise prove the actual date when they are received by the express enterprise. If the documents or materials are submitted by data message, the date when they enter the electric system of the Trademark Office or the Trademark Appeal Board shall be deemed the date of submission.
The party concerned shall mail documents to the Trademark Office or the Trademark Appeal Board by registered mail.
The documents or materials submitted to the Trademark Office or the Trademark Appeal Board by the party concerned in writing shall be subject to the records filed in the Trademark Office or the Trademark Appeal Board; the documents or materials submitted to the Trademark Office or the Trademark Appeal Board by the party concerned by data message shall be subject to the records in database of the Trademark Office or the Trademark Appeal Board, except for the records of files and database of the Trademark Office or the Trademark Appeal Board proved to be wrong.
Article 10 Any relevant document of the Trademark Office or the Trademark Appeal Board will be delivered to the party concerned directly, by mail, data message or other means; any document sent to the party concerned by data message shall be agreed by the party concerned. In the event that the party concerned has engaged a trademark agency to handle the service of the relevant documents, then any document that has been served on the trademark agency shall be deemed to have been served on the party concerned.
As for the date of service of any document on the parties concerned by the Trademark Office or the Trademark Appeal Board, if the document is delivered by mail, the date of service shall be deemed as the date of the mailing indicated by a postmark on the document received by the party concerned. In the event that a postmark is not clear or there is no postmark, the document shall be deemed as having been served on the party concerned 15 days after it is sent out, except the party concerned can prove the actual receipt date; if the document is delivered directly, the date of service shall be deemed as the date when it is delivered; in the event that the document is submitted by data message, it shall be deemed as having been served on the party concerned 15 days after it is sent out, except the party concerned can prove the date when the document enters the electric system. In the event that it is impossible to deliver a document by the above means, it may be served on the parties concerned via public announcement. The document shall be deemed as having been served 30 days after the public announcement is made.
(Relevant articles: Legislation 2)
Article 11 The following periods shall not be included in the trademark examination and hearing periods:
1. the period when the document and announcement of the Trademark Office or the Trademark Appeal Board are being sent;
2. the period when the party concerned needs to add evidence or supplementary documents and when the change in the party concerned leads to a new defense;
3. the period needed for application, submission and use of evidence and for negotiation and draw;
4. the period when the determination on priority needs waiting; and
5. the period when the result of hearing of priority cases is waited according to the request of the case applicant during the examination and hearing.
(Relevant articles: Legislation 1)
Article 12 Unless it is otherwise provided in Paragraph 2 of this Article, the beginning day of all periods specified in the Trademark Law and the Regulations shall not be included. The periods calculated by years or months, the corresponding day of the last month in the period shall be the expiration date; if there is no corresponding day in the month, the last day thereof shall be the expiration date; if the expiration date falls on a holiday, the first working day after the holiday shall be the expiration date.
The period of validity of a registered trademark specified in Articles 39 and 40 of the Trademark Law shall be calculated as of the appointed day and the day before the corresponding day of the last month in the period shall be the expiration date; if there is no corresponding day in the month, the last day thereof shall be the expiration date.
(Relevant articles: Legislation 1)
Chapter II Application for Trademark Registration
Article 13 An application for trademark registration shall be made according to the published classification table of commodities and services. For each trademark registration application, the applicant shall submit to the Trademark Office a copy of the Application for Trademark Registration and a copy of the trademark design; in the event that an application is filed for the registration of a trademark with a specific combination of colors or a colored design, the colored design sand a copy of a black and white draft shall be submitted; in the event that a color is not designated, the black and white draft shall be submitted.
The trademark designs shall be clear and easy to attach. They shall be printed on appropriate smooth and durable paper or alternatively be detailed via photos, the size of which shall be not more than ten centimeters but not less than five centimeters in length or width.
In the event that an application is filed for a three-dimensional trademark, it shall be clearly stated in the application to specify the usage of the trademark and a design capable of displaying the properties of a three-dimensional shape shall be submitted and the submitted trademark design shall at least include a three-view drawing.
In the event that an application is filed for the registration of a trademark with a specific combination of colors, it shall be clearly specified in the application to specify the usage of the trademark.
In the event that an application is filed for the registration of a trademark with audio logo, it shall be clearly specified in the application, a satisfactory voice sample shall be submitted and the audio trademark applied for registration shall be described to specify the usage of the trademark. Where the audio trademark is described, the audio applied for trademark shall be described by stave or notation and illustrated by words; where the audio trademark cannot be described by stave or notation, it shall be illustrated by words; the trademark description and the voice sample shall be consistent.
In the event that an application is filed for the registration of a collective mark or a certification mark, it shall be specified in the application, and a certification document pertaining to the qualifications of the subject as well as the rules governing its use and the administration shall be submitted.
In the event that a trademark is in a foreign language or involves the use of a foreign language, the meaning of the foreign language shall be explained.
Article 14 To apply for trademark registration, the applicant shall submit certificates that prove their identification.
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