Feynman LIANG Patent & Trademark Attorney	Published on September 10, 2021

Trademark plays a key role in brand promotion. When the mark is registered, reputation and influence of the brand accumulated in the marketing endeavor will be protected. One of the FAQ of the brand owner is how soon a Chinese trademark could be registered.

1. Statutory Pendency
According to Article 28 of China Trademark Law,
For trademarks applied for registration, the Trademark Office shall complete the examination within nine months from the date of receipt of the trademark registration application documents；if the trademark meets the relevant provisions of this Law, Decision of Preliminary Approval should be announced.

It is required by the Law that the examination should be completed within 9 months.

2. Average Pendency in statistics
According to statistic release by State Council in May 2021 [1], the average pendency of trademark examination from filing to examination decision is 4 months, which is much shorter than the statutory pendency of 9 months.

After the trademark is preliminary approved, the application will be published for opposition for three months. If no opposition is filed during this period, the mark will be registered. According to the statistic [1], taking opposition period into calculation, the total average pendency from filing to registration would be 8 Months for straightforward application.

3. Tips for speeding up the procedure
There are no official expediting proceedings for trademark registration. However, if the following tips are considered before filing the application, the examination will be smoother and thus it would take less time for your trademark registration.

a. Goods and Services
Currently, Chinese Goods and Services classification system are mostly based on Nice classification system (The updated Chinese classification is based on 11th version of Nice classification). For the current trademark examination practice, if the designated goods / services name is not identical to the one in the Chinese classification system or accepted goods / service name, it is highly likely that the examiner will issue Notice of Ratification and the applicant would have to amend the goods / services name. Therefore, if the applicant’s goods or services are conventional goods or service and the applicant wishes to avoid Notice of Rectification, it is suggested to select the Goods and Services name from the Chinese classification system.

b. Trademark Search
More than 9 million fresh trademark applications are filed before China National Intellectual Property Administration (“CNIPA”) every year. It is not uncommon for the applicant to receive refusal decision on the ground of existence of prior registration / applications. Therefore, to save time and resources, it is highly suggested to perform a trademark search before filing. English version of official trademark search is available on the website of CNIPA.

c. Word element and figurative element
For marks composed of both word element and figurative element, according to the current Chinese examination practice, these elements will be searched and examined respectively. If either / any one of the elements are refused on any ground, the mark as a whole will be refused and there is no remedy (such as divisional application) under the current legal framework. Therefore, for mark with word and figurative element, it is suggested to file with separate applications. In another word, work mark and figurative mark should be filed to different applications.

d. Avoid generic word or figurative element
Generic refusals are quite common in examination practice. According to Article 11 of China Trademark Law, the following signs may not be registered as trademarks:

(1) Only the general name, figure, and model of this product;
(2) Only directly indicating the quality, main raw materials, function, purpose, weight, quantity and other characteristics of the goods;
(3) Other lack of distinctive features.
The marks listed in the preceding paragraph may be registered as trademarks if they have acquired distinctive features through use and are easy to identify.

Therefore, if the marks contain only generic element, there are high likelihood that refusal will be received and longer prosecution time would be expected.

[1] http://www.gov.cn/zhengce/2021-05/08/content_5605368.htm