Annual Technical Report on Trademark Information Activities in 2023 submitted by China National Intellectual Property Administration
Please provide links to your website where the requested information can be found in English, French, or Spanish. Alternately, you may provide text responses instead of URLs if desired. If the information is not available on your website in an ATR language, then please provide text.
URLs in responses should meet the following requirements:
I. GENERAL OVERVIEW OF RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN TRADEMARK INFORMATION ACTIVITIES CARRIED OUT BY THE OFFICE
Information on the following topics is desired:
- Outline of main policies and plans aimed at development of trademark information activities and expected time frames for their realization
Trademark Office releases policies and plans related to public trademark information on https://sbj.cnipa.gov.cn/sbj/index.html, which is the official website of the Trademark Office of the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA). Th released information mainly includes work news (https://sbj.cnipa.gov.cn/sbj/ssbj_gzdt/), notices and announcements (https://sbj.cnipa.gov.cn/sbj/tzgg/), as well as contents of the various business sections of the homepage.
- New projects launched or resumed this year in the context of the policies and plans mentioned above, short description: aims, partners, tasks
During the 2024 National Intellectual Property Publicity Week, the CNIPA Open Day Trademark Office Event was held to enhance communication and exchange with the relevant public; typical trademark opposition and review cases of 2023 were released, and the practice and procedures of trademark opposition and review were introduced to the relevant public through specific cases.
In the second half of this year, Trademark Office plans to stage an annual trademark publicity and promotion event to inform the relevant public on trademark policies and regulations, as well as trademark application and registration-related knowledge and practice.
- Main areas of trademark information activities and related information and communication technology (ICT) practices which were in the focus of attention last year
During the 2023 National Intellectual Property Publicity Week, this Office organized its own activities on the CNIPA Open Day, released typical trademark objection and review cases of 2022, and staged an annual trademark publicity event in Guangdong Province.
- Statistics: changes in terms of application filings and registrations with respect to previous year; trends or areas experiencing rapid changes
In 2022, our Trademark Office received 7,515,961 trademark applications and granted 6,177,170 registrations; in 2023, there were 7,188,336 trademark applications and 4,382,714 registrations.
- Other matters and useful links (URLs): annual report of the Office, news page, statistics, etc
Other relevant trademark information is released on https://sbj.cnipa.gov.cn/sbj/index.html, which includes a trademark data section (https://sbj.cnipa.gov.cn/sbj/sbsj/).
II. SERVICES AND ACTIVITIES RELATED TO TRADEMARK INFORMATION CARRIED OUT BY THE OFFICE
Information on the following topics is desired:
- Information and support provided by the Office to applicants regarding filing on paper and/or e-filing (instructions, seminars, etc.) – URLs
http://sbj.cnipa.gov.cn/sbj/wssq
- Availability of the application dossier in electronic form
http://sbj.cnipa.gov.cn/sbj/sbsq/sqss/
- Matters concerning classifying
- Classification and reclassification activities
As a member of the Nice Union, China adopts the International Classification of Goods and Services for the Purposes of the Registration of Marks (i.e. Nice Classification). This Office divides the goods and services of the Nice Classification into similar groups and adds the names of commonly used goods and service items in China in light of the specific situation to formulate the Classification Table for Similar Goods and Services. As the Nice Classification is revised annually, the Classification Table for Similar Goods and Services is also adjusted accordingly.
- classification systems used, e.g., International Classification of Goods and Services for the Purposes of the Registration of Marks (Nice Classification), International Classification of the Figurative Elements of Marks (Vienna Classification), other classification
The Nice Classification
- Use of electronic classification systems and pre-defined terms of the classification applied
Applicants can submit their applications through the trademark e-filing system, and fill in goods and service items online through the electronic classification system.
In the Trademark Search and Query section of https://sbj.cnipa.gov.cn/sbj/index.html, applicants can also make online searches for acceptable goods and service items made publicly available by this Office.
- Matters concerning processing of different types of non-traditional marks (e.g., three-dimensional, motion, hologram, color mark, etc.)
According to China’s Trademark Law, the non-traditional types of marks currently accepted in the country are three-dimensional marks, color combinations, and sound marks.
If an applicant applies for a three-dimensional trademark, it shall declare so in the application form and explain the method of use of the mark in the "Trademark Description" column of the "Trademark Registration Application". The applicant shall submit a drawing that can determine the three-dimensional shape of the mark, and such a drawing should include views of at least three sides of the mark.
If the applicant applies for a color trademark, it shall declare so in the application form and provide a written explanation in the "Trademark Description" column of the "Trademark Registration Application" on the method of use of the color code and mark. The mark drawing should be a color block that represents the method of color combination or a graphic profile that represents the color use positions. The graphic profile is not a constituent element of the mark, and it must be represented by dashed but not solid line.
If the applicant applies for a sound trademark, it shall declare so in the application form and describe the sound mark in the mark drawing box. At the same time, the applicant shall submit a sound sample that meets the requirements and explain the method of use of the mark in the "Trademark Description" column of the "Trademark Application Form".
III. SOURCES OF TRADEMARK INFORMATION PROVIDED BY THE OFFICE
Information on the following topics is desired:
- Official Gazettes: main types of announcements, frequency of publication, medium (on paper, on CDs, online (URL), etc.
Trademark announcements are released electronically through https://sbj.cnipa.gov.cn/sbj/index.html. Four releases are made each month. The specific release website is https://wsgg.sbj.cnipa.gov.cn:9443/tmann/annInfoView/homePage.html.
The types of announcements include:
- Announcement of preliminary approval of trademark;
- Announcement of preliminary approval of collective trademark;
- Announcement of preliminary approval of certification trademark;
- Trademark Registration Announcement (I);
- Trademark Registration Announcement (II);
- Announcement of registration of collective trademark;
- Announcement of registration of certification trademark;
- Announcement of trademark transfer/shift;
- Announcement of change of the name and address of trademark registrant/applicant;
- Announcement of deletion of goods/service items;
- Announcement of change of trademark agency;
- Announcement of trademark correction;
- Announcement of renewal of registered trademark;
- Announcement of filing of trademark use license;
- Announcement of change of trademark use license;
- Announcement of termination of trademark use license;
- Announcement of registration of trademark pledge;
- Announcement of cancellation of trademark pledge registration;
- Announcement of cancellation of registered trademark;
- Announcement of non-renewal and cancellation of registered trademark;
- Announcement of revocation of registered trademark;
- Announcement of invalidation of registered trademark;
- Announcement of withdrawal of trademark registration application;
- Announcement of invalidity;
- Announcement of declaration of the loss of trademark registration certificate;
- Announcement of delivery;
- Announcement of change of the name and address of collective/certification trademark registrant applicant/member list of management rules;
- Announcement of transfer/shift of the name and address of collective/certification trademark registrant applicant/member list of management rules;
- Announcement of business affairs of trademark agency;
- General announcement.
- Information products (coverage, medium, etc.) available to examiners, including external documentation and databases.
Currently, there are no such information products.
- Information products (coverage, medium, etc.) and services available to external users; conditions of access (e.g., free of charge, subscription, etc.)
The public can register online as users to search for and query basic trademark information, procedure information, announcements, proof documents, examination/objection decisions, and review rulings/decision documents.
- Legal status information (kind of information, coverage, medium, etc.)
The trademark online query system provides basic trademark information queries, including trademark status (valid/invalid) and trademark status icons. The trademark registration certificate disclosure system provides trademark certification document queries, including certification document status (valid/invalid).
- Other sources
The trademark online application system provides users with an open data download function.
IV. ICT SUPPORT TO SERVICES AND ACTIVITIES RELATED TO TRADEMARK INFORMATION CARRIED OUT BY THE OFFICE
Information on the following topics is desired:
- Specific software tools supporting business procedures within the Office: general description, characteristics, advantages, possible improvements
The software currently used by this Office to support its internal trademark examination and review work is self-developed software, which mainly realizes the full electronic trademark registration examination and review work from application to document issuance. The system adopts a B/S architecture and is deployed in a stand-alone application mode. Because the system was designed in the early 21st century, it has poor integration and adaptation capabilities for new big data and intelligent technologies. For this reason, this Office is currently pushing forward system restructuring work to raise the intelligence level and overall performance of the system.
- Hardware used to supporting business processes of the Office
The main hardware currently used is rack mounted-server.
- Internal databases: coverage, updates, interlinks with external sources
The internal database mainly includes: trademark application information and related documents, examination process information, conclusion information and documents, intermediate information, etc.
- Establishment and maintenance of electronic search file: file building, updating, storage, documents from other offices included in the search file.
Currently, no documents of other offices are included.
- Administrative management electronic systems (register, legal status, statistics, and administrative support)
Currently, our system has register, legal status, data statistics sharing and other functions, and provides partial data support to gjzwfw.www.gov.cn and other platforms.
V. PROMOTION ACTIVITIES AIMED TO SUPPORT USERS IN ACCESS AND EFFICIENT USE OF TRADEMARK INFORMATION
Information on the following topics is desired:
- Office’s library (if deals with trademark information): equipment, collection management, network of libraries in the country, cooperation with foreign libraries
- There are no related activities.
- Publications related to different business procedures and trademark information sources available to users, for example, books, brochures, Internet publications, etc.
- There is no relevant content.
- Cooperation with universities, technology and innovation support centers, etc.
- There are no related activities.
- Education and training: training courses, e-learning modules (URLs), seminars, exhibitions, etc.
The courseware of the 2021 Trademark Centralized Publicity Course can be found at: https://sbj.cnipa.gov.cn/sbj/tzgg/202201/t20220117_5686.html
- Other activities
The annual CNIPA Open Day Trademark Office activities, as well as trademark publicity activities.
VI. INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION ACTIVITIES IN THE FIELD OF TRADEMARK INFORMATION
Information on the following topics is desired:
- International exchange of trademark information in machine-readable form (e.g., Official Gazettes)
Japan-China-Korea Concordance list of Similar Group Codes
Agreement on Trademark Information Exchange between CNIPA and EUIPO.
- Participation in international or regional activities and projects related to trademark information
Japan-China-Korea Concordance list of Similar Group Codes
Agreement on Trademark Information Exchange between CNIPA and EUIPO
- Assistance to developing countries
- Other activities
- There are currently no related activities.