China trademark refusal and opposition response is of great importance. If your trademark application is refused by the China Trademark Office (hereinafter referred to as the CTMO ) or is filed opposition by the third party, you need to make the response within the stipulated period, otherwise the mark will be canceled. Each month, Tannet cope with a couple of such cases both Chinese trademark and overseas trademark. We have different solutions and you will be advised for the most suitable one according to your actual situation.
Response to Trademark Refusal
The CTMO’s rejection of a trademark application based on relative grounds is rooted in the protection of another party’s prior trademark rights in order to avoid conflicts between the current trademark and the other party’s prior trademark rights.
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.
Response to Trademark Opposition
Trademark opposition refers to the situation where any party unsatisfied with the preliminarily approved mark, can file an opposition against it with CTMO within 3 months as of the publication. This is a procedure open for public opinions on the published mark, as stipulated by China Trademark Law and the Implementing Rules. The purpose is to guarantee the justice and transparency of approving a mark and improve the quality of trademark registration examination.
Grounds of opposition
1. The preliminarily approved mark is identical or similar with prior marks;
2. The preliminarily approved mark violates the articles of absolute refusal of China Trademark Law or the mark is lack of distinctiveness;
3. The applicant is not qualified to file for a mark and so on.
The opposition response is the legal remedy for getting the your trademark rights when your registration is propose for opposition. If you do not response to the opposition within 30days after receives the notice from CTMO, your registration will not pass the publication in China, and your trademark rights will be lost. So, for ensuring your filing can be successfully registered, it is necessary to make the opposition response.
The trademark refusal and opposition does not mean that your trademark cannot get registered. Our consultants and lawyers can help analyze the reason of refusal or opposition. If the reason of refusal is not reasonable, we will provide professional advice and suggestions to overcome the refusal and get your mark registered.
Contact Us
If you have further enquire, please feel free 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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