PRC Trademark Law Implementing Regulations

Revised on April 29 2014. Latest revision can be found at: 
http://www.chinalawandpractice.com/Article/3361445/Implementing-Regulations-for-the-PRC-Trademark-Law.html

(Promulgated by the State Council on August 3 2002 and effective as of September 15 2002.)

PART ONE: GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1: These Regulations are formulated in accordance with the PRC Trademark Law (the Trademark Law).

Article 2: The provisions of these Regulations relating to trademarks for goods shall be applicable to trademarks for services.

Article 3: For the purposes of the Trademark Law and these Regulations, the use of a trademark includes the use on goods, on the packaging or containers for goods, on trade documents for goods, or in advertising, publicity, exhibitions or other business activities.

Article 4: For the purposes of Article 6 of the Trademark Law, the phrase "goods that the State stipulates must use registered trademarks" means goods that laws or administrative regulations stipulate must use registered trademarks.

Article 5: Pursuant to the Trademark Law and these Regulations, if a dispute arises in the course of trademark registration or trademark review and adjudication and a relevant party considers his trademark to constitute a well-known trademark, such party may submit an application to the Trademark Office or the Trademark Review and Adjudication Board, as the case may be, for recognition of the trademark as a well-known trademark and rejection of the trademark registration application that violates Article 13 of the Trademark Law or cancellation of the trademark registration that violates Article 13 of the Trademark Law. When submitting his application, the relevant party shall provide evidence that his trademark constitutes a well-known trademark.

Based on the application of the party and ascertainment of the facts, the Trademark Office or the Trademark Review and Adjudication Board shall, pursuant to Article 14 of the Trademark Law, determine whether or not his trademark constitutes a well-known trademark.

Article 6: A geographical indication as provided for in Article 16 of the Trademark Law may be the subject of an application for registration as a certification mark or a collective mark pursuant to the Trademark Law and these Regulations.

Where a geographical indication has been registered as a certification mark, a natural person or a legal person or other organization whose goods satisfy the conditions for use of the geographical indication may request to use such certification mark, and the organization that controls the mark shall permit such use. Where a geographical indication has been registered as a collective mark, a natural person or a legal person or other organization whose goods satisfy the conditions for use of the geographical indication may request to join the group, association or other organization that registered such geographical indication as a collective mark, and such group, association or other organization shall accept him or it as a member pursuant to its charter; if he or it does not request to join the group, association or other organization that registered such geographical indication as a collective mark, he or it may nonetheless make legitimate use of the geographical indication, and the said group, association or other organization shall have no right to prohibit the same.

Article 7: An applicant entrusting a trademark agency to apply for trademark registration or to handle other trademark matters shall file a power of attorney. The power of attorney shall clearly state the matters entrusted and the limits of authority. The power of attorney of a foreigner or foreign enterprise shall also state the nationality of the principal.

The notarization and authentication procedures for the power of attorney and the relevant supporting documents of a foreigner or foreign enterprise shall be carried out in accordance with the principle of reciprocity.

For the purposes of Article 18 of the Trademark Law, the phrase "foreigners and foreign enterprises" means foreigners and foreign enterprises that have no habitual residence or place of business in China.

Article 8: The Chinese language shall be used for applications for trademark registration or the handling of other trademark matters.

Certificates, supporting documents and evidence submitted pursuant to the Trademark Law or these Regulations that are in a foreign language shall be accompanied by a Chinese translation, failing that they shall be deemed not to have been submitted.

Article 9: A member of the working personnel of the Trademark Office or the Trademark Review and Adjudication Board shall recuse himself, and may be challenged by a party or a materially interested person, in any of the following circumstances:

(1) he is a party or a close family member of a party or of an agent;

(2) he is otherwise related to a party or to an agent in a way that may affect his impartiality; or

(3) he is materially interested in the application for trademark registration or the handling of the other trademark matters.

Article 10: Unless otherwise provided for herein, the date on which a party files documents or materials with the Trademark Office or the Trademark Review and Adjudication Board shall be the date of delivery in the case of direct delivery and the date of the postmark affixed at the time of mailing in the case of filing by mail. If the postmark date is unclear or if there is no postmark, then the date of filing shall be the date of actual receipt by the Trademark Office or the Trademark Review and Adjudication Board, unless the party is able to provide evidence of the actual postmark date.

Article 11: Documents of the Trademark Office or the Trademark Review and Adjudication Board may be served on the parties by mail, direct delivery or otherwise. Where a party has appointed a trademark agency, documents served on the trademark agency shall be deemed to have been served on such party.

The date on which a document of the Trademark Office or the Trademark Review and Adjudication Board is served on a party shall be the date of the postmark affixed at the time of receipt by the party in the case of service by mail. If the postmark date is unclear or if there is no postmark, then the document shall be deemed to have been served on the party following the lapse of 15 days from the date of sending. In the case of direct delivery, the date of service shall be the date of delivery. If it is impossible to mail the document or to deliver it directly, it may be served on the party by public announcement, in which case it shall be deemed to have been served on the party following the lapse of 30 days from the date of issuance of the public announcement.

Article 12: International trademark registrations shall be handled pursuant to the relevant international treaties to which China has acceded. The specific measures therefor shall be formulated by the industry and commerce administrative department of the State Council.

PART TWO: APPLICATIONS FOR TRADEMARK REGISTRATION

Article 13: When applying for registration of a trademark, application shall be made by class of goods or services according to the published classification of goods and services. For each application for registration of a trademark, an Application for Trademark Registration shall be filed with the Trademark Office, accompanied by five specimens of the trademark. For trademarks with designated colours, five coloured specimens and one black-and-white sketch shall be filed as well.

The trademark specimens must be clear and easy to paste up. They must be printed on glossy, durable paper or be replaced by photographs. Their length or width shall not exceed 10 centimetres and not be less than 5 centimetres.

If trademark registration is applied for a three-dimensional sign, the applicant shall declare the same in the application and file specimens enabling determination of the three-dimensional shape.

If trademark registration is applied for a colour combination, the applicant shall declare the same in the application and file a textual description.

When applying for registration of a collective or certification mark, the applicant shall declare the same in the application and file documents supporting his qualifications to apply as well as the rules for administration of the use of the mark.

If the trademark is in a foreign language or includes a foreign language, its meaning shall be explained.

Article 14: An applicant for trademark registration shall submit a photocopy of a valid identification document. The name of the applicant for trademark registration shall be consistent with that on the identification document submitted.

Article 15: The name of the goods or the service shall be entered in accordance with the classification of goods and services. For goods that are not named or services that are not listed in the classification of goods and services, a description of the goods or services shall be attached.

Relevant documents, such as those for application for registration of a trademark, shall be typed or printed.

Article 16: If joint application is made for registration of the same trademark, a representative shall be designated in the application. In the absence of such designation, the person ranked first in the application shall be the representative.

Article 17: If an applicant changes his name, address or agent or narrows the scope of designated goods, he may carry out amendment procedures with the Trademark Office.

If an applicant assigns his application for trademark registration, he shall carry out assignment procedures with the Trademark Office.

Article 18: The date of application for trademark registration shall be the date on which the application documents are received by the Trademark Office. If the application procedures have been completed and the application documents have been filled out in accordance with provisions, the Trademark Office shall accept the same and notify the applicant in writing. If the application procedures have not been completed or the application documents have not been filled out in accordance with provisions, the Trademark Office shall not accept the same and shall notify the applicant in writing, stating the grounds for the non-acceptance.

If the application procedures have been basically completed or the application documents basically conform to the provisions, but supplementation and/or correction is required, the Trademark Office shall notify the applicant to carry out supplementation and/or correction and require him to supplement and/or correct the contents indicated and return the application to the Trademark Office within 30 days from the date of receipt of the notice. If supplementation and/or correction is carried out and the application is returned to the Trademark Office within the time limit, the application date shall be reserved. If supplementation and/or correction is not carried out within the time limit, the application shall be deemed abandoned and the Trademark Office shall notify the applicant in writing.

Article 19: If two or more applicants separately apply on the same date for registration of the same or similar trademarks for use on the same or similar goods, each applicant shall, within 30 days of the date of receipt of a notice from the Trademark Office, submit evidence that he was the first to use the trademark in question prior to the application for registration. If the trademarks have been first used on the same date or none has yet been used, the applicants may hold consultations among themselves and submit their written agreement to the Trademark Office within 30 days after receipt of a notice from the Trademark Office. If the applicants do not wish to consult or consultations are unsuccessful, the Trademark Office shall notify the applicants to determine one applicant by drawing lots and shall reject the registration applications of the others. Applicants who have been notified by the Trademark Office but fail to participate in the draw shall be deemed to have abandoned their applications. Applicants who fail to participate in the draw shall be notified in writing by the Trademark Office.

Article 20: Where a right of priority is claimed pursuant to Article 24 of the Trademark Law, the copies, filed by the applicant, of the application documents he submitted when he first applied for registration of the trademark must be authenticated by the trademark authority that accepted such application and marked with the application date and number.

Where a right of priority is claimed pursuant to Article 25 of the Trademark Law, the supporting documents filed by the applicant must be authenticated by an organization designated by the industry and commerce administrative department of the State Council, unless the international exhibition at which his goods were exhibited was held in China.

PART THREE: EXAMINATION OF APPLICATIONS FOR TRADEMARK REGISTRATION

Article 21: Applications for trademark registration that have been accepted shall be examined by the Trademark Office in accordance with relevant provisions of the Trademark Law and these Regulations. If an application for registration conforms to the provisions or conforms to the provisions to the extent that the trademark is used on some of the designated goods only, the Trademark Office shall preliminarily approve and gazette the trademark. If an application for registration does not conform to the provisions or does not conform to the provisions vis-à-vis some of the goods for which the trademark is designated, the Trademark Office shall reject the application or reject the application with respect to some of the designated goods, and notify the applicant in writing, stating the grounds for the rejection.

If the Trademark Office preliminarily approves an application for registration that conforms to the provisions to the extent that the trademark is used on some of the designated goods only, the applicant may, prior to the expiration date of the opposition period, apply for abandonment of the application under which the trademark may be used on some of the designated goods only. If the applicant applies for abandonment of the application under which the trademark may be used on some of the designated goods only, the Trademark Office shall revoke its preliminary approval, terminate the examination procedure and gazette the matter anew.

Article 22: To oppose a trademark that has been preliminarily approved and gazetted by the Trademark Office, the opponent shall file a trademark opposition, in duplicate, with the Trademark Office. The trademark opposition shall clearly state the number of the issue of the Trademark Gazette in which the opposed trademark was gazetted as well as its preliminary approval number. The trademark opposition shall contain specific claims and be based on facts, and shall be accompanied by relevant evidence.

The Trademark Office shall serve a copy of the trademark opposition on the respondent in a timely manner and instruct him to offer a defence within 30 days from the date of receipt of the opposition. Failure on the part of the respondent to offer a defence shall not affect the Trademark Office's ruling on the opposition.

If a party needs to submit relevant supplementary evidence after he raises an opposition or offers a defence, he shall include a statement to that effect in his application or defence and submit the evidence within three months of the date on which he filed his opposition or defence. If the supplementary evidence is not submitted within the time limit, the party shall be deemed to have abandoned his right to submit supplementary evidence.

Article 23: For the purposes of the second paragraph of Article 34 of the Trademark Law, the word "tenable" includes tenable in respect of some of the designated goods. If an opposition is tenable in respect of some of the designated goods, the trademark registration application shall not be approved to the extent of that portion of the designated goods.

If the registration of the opposed trademark had been gazetted before the ruling on the opposition became effective, the original gazetting of the registration shall be revoked and the trademark whose registration was approved in the ruling on the opposition shall be gazetted anew.

The approval of a trademark's registration in the ruling on an opposition shall have no retroactive effect on another person's use on the same or similar goods of a sign that is the same as or similar to such trademark during the time from the expiration date of the period for opposition to the trademark until the entry into effect of the ruling on the opposition; however, damages shall be payable if the trademark registrant suffered loss as a result of bad faith on the part of the person using such sign.

The time limit for applying for review and adjudication of a trademark whose registration was approved in a ruling on an opposition shall run from the date on which the ruling is gazetted.

PART FOUR: AMENDMENT, ASSIGNMENT AND RENEWAL OF REGISTERED TRADEMARKS

Article 24: To change the name, address or other registered particulars of a trademark registrant, an amendment application shall be filed with the Trademark Office. Following its approval of the application, the Trademark Office shall issue a corresponding certificate to the registrant and gazette the matter. If the Trademark Office does not approve the application, it shall notify the applicant in writing, stating the grounds for the disapproval.

To change the name of a trademark registrant, a document in support of the change issued by the relevant registry shall be filed as well. If no such document has been filed, it may be supplied within 30 days after the date on which application is made. If the said document is not supplied within the time limit, the amendment application shall be deemed abandoned and the Trademark Office shall notify the applicant in writing.

When the name or address of a trademark registrant is changed, the trademark registrant shall amend the registrations of all of his trademarks simultaneously. If he fails to do so, the amendment application shall be deemed abandoned and the Trademark Office shall notify the applicant in writing.

Article 25: To apply for assignment of a registered trademark, the assignor and the assignee shall file an application for assignment of a registered trademark with the Trademark Office. The application procedures for assignment of the registered trademark shall be carried out by the assignee. After the Trademark Office has examined and approved the application, it shall issue a corresponding certificate to the assignee and gazette the assignment.

When assigning a registered trademark, the trademark registrant shall assign simultaneously the same or similar trademarks registered for the same or similar goods. If he fails to do so, the Trademark Office shall notify him that he should rectify the matter within a specified time. If he fails to rectify the matter within the time limit, the application for assignment of the registered trademark shall be deemed abandoned and the Trademark Office shall notify the applicant in writing.

If an application for assignment of a registered trademark may lead to mistaken recognition or confusion or have other negative effects, the Trademark Office shall not approve the same and shall notify the applicant in writing, stating the grounds for the disapproval.

Article 26: If the exclusive right to use a registered trademark is transferred to someone else for reasons other than assignment, the party accepting such right shall carry out the procedures for the transfer of the exclusive right to use a registered trademark with the Trademark Office on the strength of the relevant supporting documents or legal documents.

If the exclusive right to use a registered trademark is transferred to someone else, the same or similar trademarks registered for the same or similar goods by the holder of such right shall be transferred simultaneously. If he fails to cause the said trademarks to be transferred simultaneously, the Trademark Office shall notify him that he should rectify the matter within a specified time. If he fails to rectify the matter within the time limit, the application for transfer of the registered trademark to someone else shall be deemed abandoned and the Trademark Office shall notify the applicant in writing.

Article 27: If the registration of a registered trademark needs to be renewed, an application for renewal of trademark registration shall be filed with the Trademark Office. After the Trademark Office has examined and approved the application, it shall issue a corresponding certificate to the assignee and gazette the renewal.

The term of a renewed trademark registration shall run from the first day following the expiration of the preceding registration term of the trademark.

PART FIVE: TRADEMARK REVIEW AND ADJUDICATION

Article 28: The Trademark Review and Adjudication Board shall accept applications for trademark review and adjudication submitted pursuant to Articles 32, 33, 41 and 49 of the Trademark Law. The Trademark Review and Adjudication Board shall carry out review and adjudication on the basis of the facts and in accordance with the law.

Article 29: For the purposes of the third paragraph of Article 41 of the Trademark Law, the term "disputed registered trademarks" refers to situations where the registrant of a trademark that was first filed for registration considers a trademark that another person subsequently filed for registration to be the same as or similar to his own trademark that he registered for the same or similar products.

Article 30: To apply for trademark review and adjudication, the applicant shall file an application with the Trademark Review and Adjudication Board, accompanied by a number of copies corresponding to the number of parties on the opposite side. When applying for review on the basis of a written decision or ruling of the Trademark Office, the application shall additionally be accompanied by copies of the written decision or ruling of the Trademark Office.

After having received the application, the Trademark Review and Adjudication Board shall accept the same if it is found to satisfy the conditions for acceptance. If the application is found not to satisfy the conditions for acceptance, the Trademark Review and Adjudication Board shall not accept it and shall notify the applicant in writing, stating the grounds for the non-acceptance. If supplementation and/or correction is required, the Trademark Review and Adjudication Board shall notify the applicant to carry out supplementation and/or correction within 30 days from the date of receipt of the notice. If the application still does not comply with the provisions after it has been supplemented and/or corrected, the Trademark Review and Adjudication Board shall not accept it and shall notify the applicant in writing, stating the grounds for the non-acceptance. If supplementation and/or correction is not carried out within the time limit, the application shall be deemed withdrawn and the Trademark Review and Adjudication Board shall notify the applicant in writing.

If the Trademark Review and Adjudication Board discovers an application for trademark review and adjudication not to satisfy the conditions for acceptance after it has accepted the same, it shall reject the application and notify the applicant in writing, stating the grounds for the rejection.

Article 31: After the Trademark Review and Adjudication Board has accepted an application for trademark review and adjudication, it shall deliver a copy of the trademark opposition to the respondent in a timely manner and instruct him to offer a defence within 30 days from the date of receipt of the copy. Failure to offer a defence shall not affect the review and adjudication by the Trademark Review and Adjudication Board.

Article 32: If a party needs to submit relevant supplementary evidence after he applies for review and adjudication or offers a defence, he shall include a statement to that effect in his application or defence and submit the evidence within three months of the date on which he filed his application or defence. If the supplementary evidence is not submitted within the time limit, the party shall be deemed to have abandoned his right to submit supplementary evidence.

Article 33: Based on a party's request or actual need, the Trademark Review and Adjudication Board may decide to conduct a public hearing concerning an application for review and adjudication.

If the Trademark Review and Adjudication Board decides to conduct a public hearing concerning an application for review and adjudication, it shall notify the parties in writing 15 days prior to the hearing, informing them of the date and place of the hearing and of the adjudicators. The parties shall reply within the time limit specified in the notice.

If the applicant neither replies nor attends the hearing, his application for review and adjudication shall be deemed withdrawn and he shall be notified in writing by the Trademark Review and Adjudication Board. If the respondent neither replies nor attends the hearing, the Trademark Review and Adjudication Board may conduct review and adjudication by default.

Article 34: If an applicant requests to withdraw his application before the Trademark Review and Adjudication Board has made a decision or ruling, he may do so after he has given the Trademark Review and Adjudication Board a written explanation of his grounds therefor. If the application is withdrawn, the review and adjudication process shall terminate.

Article 35: An applicant who has withdrawn his application for trademark review and adjudication may not submit another review and adjudication application based on the same facts and grounds. If the Trademark Review and Adjudication Board has already made a ruling or decision in respect of an application for trademark review and adjudication, no party may submit another review and adjudication application based on the same facts and grounds.

Article 36: Where a registered trademark is cancelled pursuant to Article 41 of the Trademark Law, the exclusive right to use the same shall be deemed not to have existed ab initio. A decision or ruling on the cancellation of a registered trademark shall have no retroactive effect on a judgment or ruling in a trademark infringement case that was made by a people's court and enforced prior to the cancellation, or on a decision on the handling of an infringement made in a trademark infringement case that was made by an administration for industry and commerce and enforced prior to the cancellation or on a trademark assignment or licensing contract that was performed prior to the cancellation; however, damages shall be payable if bad faith on the part of the trademark registrant caused another person to suffer loss.

PART SIX: CONTROL OF THE USE OF TRADEMARKS

Article 37: When a registered trademark is used, it may be marked with the phrase "注册商标" or a registration symbol on the goods, the packaging for the goods, the instruction leaflet or manual, or other attachments.

The registration symbols include and ®. When a registration symbol is used, it shall be placed at the top or bottom right corner of the trademark.

Article 38: If a Trademark Registration Certificate has been lost or damaged, application must be made to the Trademark Office for reissuance thereof. If the Trademark Registration Certificate has been lost, a declaration of loss shall be published in the Trademark Gazette. Damaged Trademark Registration Certificates shall be returned to the Trademark Office when the application for reissuance is filed.

If a Trademark Registration Certificate is forged or altered, criminal liability shall be pursued according to law in accordance with the provisions of the Criminal Law on the crime of forging or altering certificates issued by State authorities or other crimes.

Article 39: If a trademark registrant commits any of the acts specified in Items (1), (2) and (3) of Article 44 of the Trademark Law, the administration for industry and commerce will order him to rectify the situation within a specified time. If he refuses to do so, the administration for industry and commerce will report the matter to the Trademark Office with the request that it cancel his registered trademark.

In the event of the act mentioned in Item (4) of Article 44 of the Trademark Law, anyone may apply, stating the relevant details, to the Trademark Office for cancellation of the registered trademark. The Trademark Office shall notify the trademark registrant, requiring him to provide evidence of his use of the trademark prior to the filing of the application for cancellation, or to state legitimate reasons for non-use, within two months of the date of receipt of the notice. If the registrant fails to provide evidence or provides invalid evidence, and if he has no legitimate reasons for non-use, the Trademark Office shall cancel his registered trademark.

For the purposes of the preceding paragraph, the term "evidence" includes evidence of the trademark registrant's use of the registered trademark and evidence of the trademark registrant's licensing of the trademark to another person.

Article 40: Registered trademarks that have been cancelled pursuant to Article 44 or 45 of the Trademark Law shall be gazetted by the Trademark Office. The exclusive right to use such a registered trademark shall be extinguished from the date on which the Trademark Office makes its decision to cancel the mark.

Article 41: If the grounds for cancellation of a registered trademark that has been cancelled by the Trademark Office or the Trademark Review and Adjudication Board apply to some of the designated goods only, the trademark registration shall be cancelled to the extent of that portion of the designated goods.

Article 42: The amount of a fine imposed pursuant to Article 45 or 48 of the Trademark Law shall not be more than 20% of the illegal turnover or not more than twice the illegal profit.

The amount of a fine imposed pursuant to Article 47 of the Trademark Law shall not be more than 10% of the illegal turnover.

Article 43: When a licensor licenses his registered trademark to another person, he shall deliver a duplicate of the trademark licensing contract to the Trademark Office for the record within three months after the date of execution thereof.

Article 44: If anyone violates the second paragraph of Article 40 of the Trademark Law, the administration for industry and commerce shall order him to rectify the situation within a specified time. If he fails to rectify the situation within the time limit, the administration for industry and commerce will confiscate his trademark representations. If it is difficult to separate the trademark representations from the goods, they will be confiscated and destroyed together.

Article 45: If the use of a trademark violates Article 13 of the Trademark Law, a relevant party may request the administration for industry and commerce to prohibit such use. When submitting his application, the party shall provide evidence that his trademark constitutes a well-known trademark. If the trademark is recognized by the Trademark Office as a well-known trademark pursuant to Article 14 of the Trademark Law, the administration for industry and commerce will order the infringer to cease using the well-known trademark in violation of Article 13 of the Trademark Law and will confiscate and destroy his trademark representations. If it is difficult to separate the trademark representations from the goods, they will be confiscated and destroyed together.

Article 46: To apply for the deregistration of his registered trademark or for the deregistration of his trademark for some of the designated goods only, a trademark registrant shall file an application for the deregistration of a trademark with, and return the original Trademark Registration Certificate to, the Trademark Office.

If a trademark registrant applies for the deregistration of his registered trademark or for the deregistration of his registered trademark for some of the designated goods only, the exclusive right to use the registered trademark or the exclusive right to use the registered trademark for those of the designated goods shall be extinguished from the date of receipt by the Trademark Office of the application for its deregistration.

Article 47: If a trademark registrant dies or is terminated and no procedures for the transfer of the trademark to another person are carried out within one year after the date of his death or its termination, anyone may apply to the Trademark Office for the deregistration of the trademark after the lapse of such one-year period. If deregistration is applied for, evidence shall be submitted of the death or termination of the trademark registrant.

If a registered trademark is deregistered by reason of the death or termination of its registrant, the exclusive right to use the registered trademark shall be extinguished from the date of the death or termination of its registrant.

Article 48: If a registered trademark is cancelled, or deregistered pursuant to Article 46 or 47 hereof, the original Trademark Registration Certificate will become void. If the registration of the trademark is cancelled as to some of the designated goods only, or if the trademark registrant applies for the deregistration of his trademark for some of the designated goods only, the Trademark Office shall annotate and return the original Trademark Registration Certificate or issue a new one, and gazette the matter.

PART SEVEN: PROTECTION OF THE EXCLUSIVE RIGHT TO USE A TRADEMARK

Article 49: The holder of the exclusive right to use a registered trademark has no right to prohibit others from making legitimate use of the generic name, device or model number of the goods in question, or direct expressions of the quality, principal raw materials, functions, uses, weight, quantity or other characteristics of the goods, or place names, which are included in the registered trademark.

Article 50: Any of the following acts constitutes an infringement of an exclusive right to use a registered trademark as referred to in Item (5) of Article 52 of the Trademark Law:

(1) use as the name or trade dress of goods, of a sign that is the same as or similar to another person's registered trademark for the same or similar goods, thereby misleading the public; or

(2) intentional provision of conditions facilitating the infringement of another person's exclusive right to use a trademark such as storage, transportation, mailing or concealment.

Article 51: Anyone may lodge a complaint against an infringement of the exclusive right to use a trademark with, or report such infringement to, the administration for industry and commerce.

Article 52: The amount of a fine imposed for infringement of the exclusive right to use a registered trademark shall not be more than three times the illegal turnover or, if it is impossible to calculate the illegal turnover, not more than Rmb 100,000.

Article 53: If a trademark owner is of the opinion that his well-known trademark has been registered by another person as such person's enterprise name and that such registration may cause the public to be deceived or give rise to misunderstanding among the public, he may apply to the authority in charge of enterprise name registration for cancellation of the enterprise name registration. The authority in charge of enterprise name registration shall handle the matter in accordance with the Administration of the Registration of Enterprise Names Provisions.

PART EIGHT: SUPPLEMENTARY PROVISIONS

Article 54: Trademarks for services that have been used continuously up to July 1 1993 and that are the same as or similar to trademarks for services registered by others for the same or similar services may continue to be used; however, those whose use has been suspended for three years or more after July 1 1993 may not continue to be used.

Article 55: Specific measures for the administration of trademark agents will be formulated separately by the State Council.

Article 56: The classification of goods and services for the purposes of the registration of trademarks shall be formulated and published by the industry and commerce administrative department of the State Council.

The formats of documents for applications for trademark registration or the handling of other trademark matters shall be designed and published by the industry and commerce administrative department of the State Council.

The review and adjudication rules of the Trademark Review and Adjudication Board shall be formulated and published by the industry and commerce administrative department of the State Council.

Article 57: The Trademark Office shall establish a Trademark Register, in which it shall record registered trademarks and related registration matters.

The Trademark Office shall compile, print and publish a Trademark Gazette, in which it shall publish trademark registrations and other related matters.

Article 58: Applications for trademark registration or the handling of other trademark matters shall require the payment of fees. The fee items and rates payable shall be stipulated and published by the industry and commerce administrative department of the State Council in conjunction with the department in charge of pricing of the State Council.

Article 59: These Regulations shall be implemented as of September 15 2002. The PRC Trademark Law Implementing Rules promulgated by the State Council on March 10 1983, amended for the first time with the approval of the State Council on January 3 1988 and amended for the second time with the approval of the State Council on July 15 1993, and the Official Reply of the State Council Concerning the Issue of the Submission of Supporting Documents When Carrying Out Trademark Registration Procedures dated April 23 1995 shall be repealed on the same date.

Translator's notes:

1. "registered trademark"

2. "registered"