Application for cancellation of the latest version without a valid reason for three consecutive years of non-use of the registered trademark
In order to further improve the efficiency of the application and guide the applicant to apply for cancellation of the non-use of a registered trademark for three consecutive years without justifiable reasons as required, ChinaTrademark Office has revised the content of the Application for Cancellation of a Registered Trademark for Three Consecutive Years of Non-use of a Registered Trademark issued in March 2023, which is as follows:
I. Legal Basis and Application Requirements
According to Article 49 of the Trademark Law of the People’s Republic of China and Article 66 of the Regulations for the Implementation of the Trademark Law, if a registered trademark is not used for three consecutive years without a legitimate reason, any unit or individual may apply to the State Intellectual Property Office for cancellation of the registered trademark, and the relevant circumstances shall be stated when submitting the application.
II. Handling Channels
(1) The applicant submits the electronic application on his/her own.
Filing an application through the Trademark Online Service System. For details of the submission method, please refer to the “Online Application” column of the China Trademark Network. Website of the Trademark Online Service System: https://sbj.cnipa.gov.cn/sbj/wssq/
(2) The applicant can go to the trademark registration hall of the State Intellectual Property Office to handle the following:
Office address of the Trademark Registration Hall of the State Intellectual Property Office: No. 1, Chama South Street, Xicheng District, Beijing Zip code: 100055
Office hours: 8:30-11:30 13:30-16:30
Tel:010-63218500
(3) Entrust a China trademark agency filed with the State Intellectual Property Office to handle it.
III. Application Materials
(1) Documents to be submitted
1. Application for Cancellation of Non-Use of Registered Trademark for Three Consecutive Years;
2. Preliminary investigation evidence that the applied trademark has not been used for three consecutive years without justifiable reasons, such as online search results, market research reports, etc.;
3. A copy of the applicant’s identity document (copy of business license, ID card, etc.) confirmed by seal or signature;
4. If a trademark agency is entrusted, a power of attorney for trademark agency shall be submitted.
(2) Specific requirements
1. The applicant shall fill in the application form truthfully as required, and shall not modify the format without authorization. The application should be typed or printed.
2. The name of the applicant and the stamp (signature) stamped at the applicant’s stamp (signature) shall be consistent with the name in the identity document. If the applicant is a natural person, the identification document number shall be filled in after the name.
3. The address of the applicant shall be crowned with the name of the administrative division of the province, city, county and so on. The applicant shall fill in the address in the identity document, and if the address in the identity document is not crowned with the administrative division of province, city, county, etc., the applicant shall add the name of the corresponding administrative division. If the applicant is a natural person, he or she may fill in the mailing address.
4. If a trademark agency is entrusted to declare, the name of the agency shall be filled in and signed by the agent and stamped with the agency’s seal at the “agency seal/agent’s signature”.
5. In the case of an application for cancellation of a co-owned trademark, the name of the representative of the co-owned trademark shall be filled in at the “Trademark Registrant”.
6. To apply for cancellation of part of the goods/services, the part of the goods/services to be withdrawn should be filled in the “Cancellation of Goods/Services”, and the name of the same goods/services approved for use should be the same (additional pages can be added), and each goods or services needs to be separated by semicolons; To request withdrawal of all goods/services, the word “all” should be written here.
7. In accordance with the provisions of the Regulations for the Implementation of the Trademark Law, the applicant shall explain in the reasons for cancellation the relevant circumstances of the non-use of the applied trademark for three consecutive years without justifiable reasons, and attach the preliminary investigation evidence of the non-use of the applied trademark for three years, such as online China trademark search results, market research reports, etc.
8. If the applicant is a legal person or other organization, the seal shall be affixed at the “applicant’s seal stamp (signature)”. If the applicant is a natural person, he or she shall sign here. The stamped or signed should be complete and legible.
9. Before submitting the application, the applicant should inquire about the registration of the cancelled trademark and fill in the “Application for Cancellation of Non-use of Registered Trademark for Three Consecutive Years” with the current registrant of the trademark.
10. An application for cancellation of a registered trademark shall be filed with the State Intellectual Property Office after three years from the date of the announcement of the registration of the trademark.
11. An application for cancellation of an internationally registered trademark in accordance with Paragraph 2 of Article 49 of the Trademark Law shall be filed with the State Intellectual Property Office three years after the expiration of the rejection period of the application for international registration of the trademark; If the applicant is still in the relevant procedures for refusal review or opposition at the expiration of the refusal period, the applicant shall file an application with the State Intellectual Property Office three years after the effective date of the effective date of the decision to grant registration made by the State Intellectual Property Office.
12. If the party concerned is dissatisfied with the decision, he or she may apply to the State Intellectual Property Office for review within 15 days from the date of receipt of the revocation decision.
13. “Applicant’s Commitment” column: Applicants should carefully read the content of the applicant’s commitment before submitting the application. Once the application is submitted, the applicant is deemed to have accepted the commitment.
14. The subject qualification documents submitted by the applicant shall meet the requirements of Chapter 5.1 of Part I of the Trademark Examination and Trial Guidelines; The power of attorney and other documents shall comply with the requirements of Chapter 5.2 of Part 1 of Part I of the Guidelines for Trademark Examination and Adjudication.
15. The evidence of the preliminary investigation includes, but is not limited to, the following: information such as the business scope or business scope, business status or existence status of the applied trademark registrant, the market investigation of the applied trademark, the relevant investigation is not limited to professional inquiry platforms, the official website of the applied trademark registrant, WeChat official account, e-commerce platform, offline production and business premises and other online inquiries, market research, field investigation and other evidence materials.
4. Payment of Fees
After receiving the cancellation application, the State Intellectual Property Office shall issue a notice of payment to the applicant if it meets the conditions for acceptance after examination. If the applicant fails to pay the fee as required, it will not be accepted and the applicant will be notified in writing. Applications are charged by category. For more information, please refer to: https://sbj.cnipa.gov.cn/sbj/sbsq/sfbz/
5. Checking trademark documents
After the applicant pays the required fee, the applicant will be issued a notice of acceptance of the cancellation application, and at the same time, a Notice on Providing Evidence of the Use of the Registered Trademark will be issued to the trademark registrant. After receiving the evidence of use of the registered trademark provided by the trademark registrant, the State Intellectual Property Office will examine the evidence materials, make a decision on whether to cancel the registered trademark, and notify the trademark registrant and the applicant for cancellation in writing. If it is handled by a trademark agency, the State Intellectual Property Office will mail the decision to the trademark agency.
VI. Precautions
1. Please read the instructions on the back of the application form carefully.
2. The applicant’s name, address, postal code and telephone number and other contact information must be filled in clearly and accurately to facilitate contact.
