Chinese Trademark Office Releases Trial Provisions for Online Trademark Applications
April 9, 2009
The initiation of online trade mark applications likely will lower the cost of certain trade mark applications from RMB1000 (about US$147) to RMB800 (US$117).
McDermott Will & Emery has a strategic alliance with MWE China Law Offices, a separate law firm based in Shanghai. For information regarding this China Law Alert, please contact MWE China Law Offices lawyer Kevin Qian.
The Chinese Trademark Office (CTO) recently released the Trial Provisions for Online Trademark Applications, which clarify the procedures for making a trade mark application online. According to the provisions, trade mark applicants or agents that are lawfully registered with and approved by the relevant authorities may directly submit their applications online.
Other aspects of the provisions restrict certain parties from making online applications. For example, the provisions prohibit trade mark registrations by natural persons as well as trade mark registrations filed or jointly filed by foreign individuals or foreign enterprises that have not entrusted a qualified trade mark agency to submit such an application.
Furthermore, the provisions do not permit online applications which seek to register the following:
- A trade mark with a priority claim
- An individual’s portrait
- A collective trade mark
- A certification trade mark
- A good or service destined for specific use but not listed in the Classifications for Similar Goods and Services published by CTO
Notwithstanding these restrictions, it is anticipated that the initiation of online trade mark applications will lower the cost of certain trade mark applications.
