China trademark refusal analysis and response aims at help you get the trademark registered. In trademark application practice, many applications are rejected by Chinese Trademark Office (CTMO) due to similarity with a trademark registered or applied holding earlier priority. The trademark refusal does not mean that your trademark cannot get registered. When refusal happens, it is common that trademark applicants take different paths or approaches to defend its interest.
Tannet’s legal team can help analyze the reason of refusal. If the reason of refusal is not reasonable, we will provide professional advice and suggestions to overcome the refusal and get your mark registered.
What if my trademark is refused/ rejected in China?
If you received an Refusal Notice of your trademark from China Trademark Office, firstly, please consider about the importance and necessity of this mark. If the mark is not your major brand or you have an alternative mark, then you do not need to response to the Official Refusal Notice and you can file for a new trademark.
If the refused trademark is quite important to you and you are eagerly to have it registered in China, you should do a deep analysis on the Refusal Notice and conclude the arguments with legal basis. The arguments with legal basis will help you to gain the final registration.
Procedure of Trademark Refusal Review
According to the law, the trademark refusal review shall be filed within 15 days after the notice of refusal. The notice of refusal is divided into two kinds, namely the notice of partial refusal and the notice of entire refusal. The trademark registration shall be applied to the specific classes, which also include the semi-class second to the class, and the application may be refused only in some semi-classes. When the refused semi-classes are not the key classes for registration, it’s suggested to abandon the review, and the rest semi-classes could be approved. Otherwise, when filing the review, all the applied classes will be approved after the review.
Meanwhile, according to trademark law, the applicant can also provide complementary evidence within 3 months after filing the application if noted. We recommend all review applicants make such note for it on one hand could, and on the other hand it could spare time for other procedures.
Tannet’s Trademark-related Services
Tannet’s trademark-related services in mainland China, as well as Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan are listed below:
1. Trademark Search;
2. Trademark Application;
3. Trademark Refusal/Opposition.Revocation/Invalidity Analysis and Defense;
4. Change of Applicant's Information;
5. Trademark Monitoring;
6. Trademark Renewal;
7. Trademark Transfer/Assignment;
8. Apply for Government Subsidy.
Contact Us
If you have any questions about living, working or doing business in China, please do not hesitate to contact Tannet at anytime, anywhere by simply visiting Tannet’s website english.tannet-group.com, or calling Hong Kong hotline at 852-27826888 or China hotline at 86-755-82143512, or emailing to tannet-solution@hotmail.com. You are also welcome to visit our office situated in 16/F, Taiyangdao Bldg 2020, Dongmen Rd South, Luohu, Shenzhen, China.
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