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.
The MWE China Difference |
MWE China Law Offices is among the first group of agencies to which the CTO has granted qualifications for making online trade mark applications. We have attended all relevant trainings organized by the CTO, and thus are well placed to provide assistance when a client wishes to make a trade mark application online. |
中文版