China National Intellectual Property Administration, Several Provisions for Regulating the Application for the Registration of Trademarks (Draft for Comments)

Issued: February 12, 2019

Main contents: For the purposes of these Provisions, the phrase “irregular application for the registration of a trademark” refers to the following:

(1)       applying for the registration of a trademark that imitates one well known to the relevant public to take advantage of the business reputation of another;

(2)       preemptively applying to register a trademark that is used by another and has a certain influence, so as to illegitimately appropriate another's business reputation;

(3)       knowing or ought to have known of the existence of a prior right but nonetheless preemptively applying to register an identical or similar trademark;

(4)       repeatedly applying to register trademarks, obviously with an illegitimate objective;

(5)       applying for the registration of a large number of trademarks within a short period of time, obviously exceeding a reasonable limit; or

(6)       applying to register a trademark while lacking a genuine intent to use the same and lacking an actual need to secure the exclusive right to use the trademark for goods or services (Article 3).