The State Intellectual Property Office of Mainland China announced on May 25, 2020 that it will continue to deepen the reform of trademark registration facilitation, open trademark invalidation, opposition, and cancellation for three years without using the online application function.
The whole process of reviewing cases electronically is the direction that the Trademark Review and Adjudication Board (hereinafter referred to as the Trademark Review and Adjudication Board) has been working hard and is an important part of promoting “smart review”. After the outbreak of the COVID-19 epidemic, “cloud review” has played an active role in promoting smart review, so that parties can still enjoy a full range of review services without leaving their homes.
“Cloud Review” resolves old trademark disputes
On April 8, 2020, the Trademark Review and Adjudication Board launched and heard three cases of invalidation of the Zhonglian series of trademarks in an online live broadcast, attracting nearly 2500 people to watch them online.
In the three series of cases, the applicant, Sinopharm Group Zhonglian Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., and the respondent, Shenzhen Zhonglian Guangshen Pharmaceutical (Group) Co., Ltd., are both powerful and well-known enterprises. The trademark dispute involved in the case has been more than 20 years, and various cases are intertwined and the situation is complicated, which has attracted great attention from the intellectual property industry.
During the trial process, the collegiate panel and the agents of both parties were in Beijing, and the parties were in Wuhan and Shenzhen respectively. The three places communicated face-to-face on the online connection. The two parties expressed their initial wishes for reconciliation. The “cloud review” broke the space barrier and continued together 20 Years of disputes are expected to be settled and play an important role in closing litigation and stopping disputes.
Full electronic review of cases
On April 17, 2020, China Trademark and Patent Office Co., Ltd. received the decision on refusal of the ACE PUMPS trademark No. 35723743. This is the first electronic refusal review decision sent by the TRAB through the trademark online service system.
The whole process of reviewing cases can be made electronically, which can not only increase the channels for applicants to submit review applications, but also further optimize review and review methods and improve review efficiency. On September 23, 2019, the online application system for review of refusal was developed by the Trademark Office as a part of the trademark online service system, with 4 agency organizations leading the trial operation. As of April 17, the 4 agency organizations had submitted 267 online applications for refusal review and sent 161 electronic acceptance notices, including 250 automatic formal examinations by the system, 17 manual formal examinations, and 5 electronic correction notices.
The issuance of the first electronic refusal review decision letter means that through online registration application, online refusal, online refusal review application, online review acceptance, online review and other procedures, the entire process from registration to review has been electronic.
Released by TIPO
