Recently, the trademark examinations have undergone a series of adjustments and brought in some new requirements. These changes are closely related to applicants' rights and interests and the application prosecution. To facilitate smooth progress of your trademark work and to avoid delays or obstacles in your applications due to document issues, we have specifically sorted out and detailed the following key information, hoping it would provide practical assistance to you in your trademark application and management efforts!
1. Updated Signing Requirements for Power of Attorney by Natural Persons from Taiwan
In the past trademark process, it was quite common for a natural person from Taiwan to submit a power of attorney affixed with a personal seal. Nowadays, the power of attorney must be personally signed by the individual himself, and it is possible that the examination department will require corrections for power of attorney that only carries a personal seal.
2. Requirements for Stamping Qualification Documents from Hong Kong Enterprises
In the past trademark application process, Hong Kong enterprises were not required to affix their corporate seal on qualification documents like the enterprises registration certificates and business registration certificates. Nowadays, it is possible that the examination department will require corrections for the abovementioned documents that are not stamped with their official seal.
3. Standards for Signing Power of Attorney for Trademark Agency by Foreign Enterprises
When foreign enterprises handle trademark matters, they will find new changes in the standards for signing their power of attorney prepared for their trademark agencies. In the past, some foreign enterprises could confirm the validity of their power of attorney only by sealing it, but from now on, this method no longer meets the examination requirements. A foreign enterprise's power of attorney for trademark agency cannot rely solely on a seal to confirm its legal validity; it must be signed by the relevant person responsible. In actual cases, there have already been instances where the power of attorney was only sealed without the responsible person's signature, resulting in the examination department requiring corrections. To avoid such issues, foreign enterprises should clearly designate the relevant person responsible to sign when they prepare their power of attorney.
4. New Requirements for Materials for Applications for cancellation of Registered Trademark Not Used for Three Consecutive Years (applications for canceling registered trademark not used for three consecutive years)
In the past cancellation proceedings, applicants were only required to submit preliminary materials like webpage screenshots to initiate the proceedings, with the main burden of proof placed on the trademark registrant. This "light burden of proof" model has, in practice, led to frequent malicious or bad faith cancellation actions, increasing the burden of administrative review and disrupting the normal order of trademark administration. To establish a more equitable burden of proof system, there have been, starting in 2025, significant changes in the material or document requirements for cancellation applications and applicants will gradually receive correction notices of several specific contents for applications for canceling registered trademark not used for three consecutive years, specifically as follows:
Declaration and Commitment regarding Related Matters: the applicant needs to submit new trademark registration application and rejection review matters related to the cancellation case. Without the related matters, the applicant and agency must submit a letter of commitment affixed with a seal (signature). The content of the letter of commitment must clearly state that no important facts, such as the actual identity of the cancellation applicant and other important facts, have been concealed from the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA), and that the matters submitted and materials provided are true, accurate, and complete.
Evidence Supplementation and Commitment: The applicant must further explain the situation regarding the non-use of the disputed trademark for three consecutive years, and further supplement evidence of a search that clearly displays the registrant name, trademark name, the approved product/service name, and other keywords, as well as search evidence of the trademark's designs on general online platforms and industry-specific websites for the approved use of products/services (if the applicant's address and the disputed trademark registrant's address are in the same region, on-site investigation evidence should be provided), and submit a letter of commitment affixed with a seal (signature), assuring the truthfulness, accuracy, and completeness of the situation explanations and provided materials.
Information Supplementation: The applicant needs to provide additional explanations regarding the situation of the disputed trademark not in use for three consecutive years, including the basic information about the trademark registrant the cancellation application targeted, such as the scope of business or operation, operational status or continuation status, trademark registration status, and the like.
These changes indicate that the CNIPA has adjusted the burden of proof for cancellation applications, fundamentally breaking the traditional model in which trademark registrants bore the major burden of proof. According to the latest regulations, cancellation applicants must proactively provide preliminary investigation evidence covering multiple dimensions and channels to adequately and thoroughly demonstrate the objective state of the trademark of which cancellation is requested as it has not been used "for three consecutive years". If there are issues such as missing, vague, or insufficiently relevant evidence, the applicant will be notified to make corrections.
This reform raises the evidential threshold for cancellation applicants, accurately targeting malicious cancellation actions taken on the three-year non-use basis and fully maintains the market order and fair competition environment in the field of trademark registration and use. For cancellation applicants, the new regulations mean that they need to adopt a more rigorous attitude in material preparation, strictly comply with the new requirements, comprehensively and systematically collect and sort out evidence, so as to make the evidence chain complete and logically sound and in line with the legal standards, avoid procedural risks arising from defects in the materials, and help to deliver a smooth cancellation application prosecution.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
