In order to protect the rights and interests of trademark applicants and parties to dispute cases, the State Intellectual Property Office of Mainland China has issued the following remedial measures in response to the delayed legal period in trademark cases due to the COVID-19 epidemic:
1. Trademark business suspended within the applicable period
The parties handle trademark business supplements and corrections, review opinions, payment of trademark fees, application on the same day to provide evidence of use and negotiation replies, cancellation of three consecutive years of non-use of registered trademarks, provide evidence of use, handle trademark opposition, trademark refusal review, and non-registration re-examination, invalidation reexamination, revocation reexamination applications, defenses, supplementary evidence, as well as requests for invalidation, defense, supplementary evidence and other trademark services, due to the epidemic situation, they cannot be filed within the statutory or specified time limit, the relevant time limit is an obstacle to the exercise of rights Suspension from the date of occurrence, and the calculation will continue until the day when the obstacle to the exercise of rights is removed.
2. What are “the day when obstacles to the exercise of rights arise” and “the day when obstacles to the exercise of rights are eliminated”?
The day when the obstacle to the exercise of rights arises refers to the day when the party concerned begins to be hospitalized or quarantined due to pneumonia caused by the new coronavirus, or cannot handle trademark business normally due to epidemic prevention and control measures in the region.
The day when the obstacle to the exercise of rights is eliminated refers to the day when the person concerned is hospitalized and isolated due to pneumonia caused by the new coronavirus infection, or when the area where he is located begins to resume work and personnel control ends.
Based on the special circumstances of this epidemic, in order to maximize the protection of the rights and interests of the parties, if the parties have the above-mentioned time at the same time, the most favorable time shall be used as the day when the obstacle to the exercise of rights arises and is eliminated.
3. How to claim the suspension of the time limit?
When handling the above-mentioned trademark business, the parties shall submit a written application for the suspension of the applicable period. The application shall specify the area where the party is located during the epidemic, the reason for the obstacle to the exercise of rights and the removal time, and submit corresponding supporting materials.
4. What supporting materials can be submitted for the suspension of the claim period?
The party concerned shall provide evidence of infection treatment, isolation or control period, etc., except for the notice of delayed resumption of work publicly issued by the local government of the party concerned.
In order to reduce the burden on the parties affected by the epidemic, if multiple similar business applications are suspended for the same reason, they can submit only one certification material and submit the certification material with one of the cases. For other cases, the application only needs to be suspended within the applicable time limit. The application number of the case where the certification materials are located is stated in the book.
5. What should I do if I fail to apply for trademark renewal in time due to the epidemic?
If the party concerned fails to complete the trademark registration renewal application procedures within the grace period due to the epidemic situation, which may lead to the loss of his trademark rights, he can apply for renewal within 2 months from the date when the obstacles to the exercise of rights are removed, and refer to the fourth point to attach the relevant evidential materials.
Released by TIPO
