“Provisions on Regulating Applications for Trademark Registration ” (“the Provisions”) was reviewed and approved by State Administration for Market Regulation of China on October 10, 2019 and will be implemented on December 1, 2019.
According to the Provisions,
1. If a trademark application violates Article 4 of the Trademark Law, and constitutes bad-faith application for registration of a trademark that is not intended for use, it shall be rejected according to law.
2. Factors to be considered in determining whether an application is in violation of Article 4 of the Trademark Law include:
(1) The numbers, the class(es) and the transfer records of trademarks filed by an applicant, or an individual person, an entity, or any other organization affiliated with the applicant;
(2) The industry to which an applicant is engaged in, and its operation status;
(3) The circumstance where an applicant has been affirmed as maliciously registering a trademark and infringing upon the exclusive right of other’s registered trademark(s) in effective administrative decisions or adjudications or judicial judgements;
(4) The circumstance where an applicant applies for registration of trademarks that are identical with or similar to others’ marks with certain reputation;
(5) The circumstance where an applicant applies for registration of trademarks that are identical with or similar to the names of well-known persons, enterprise trade names, short names of enterprises, or other commercial signs;
(6) Other factors that the trademark registration department deems as necessary.
3. The determination that a trademark is in violation of Articles 4, 13, 15 or 32 of the Trademark Law is not affected by the transfer of the trademark.
4. A applicant who applies for trademark registration with bad faith is, as prescribed by Article 68, Para. 4 of the Trademark Law, subject to administrative penalties imposed by the administrative division for market regulation at or above county level at the place where the applicant resides or where the illegal conduct takes place, including warnings, fines, etc. in accordance with the seriousness of situation. Those who have illegal profits may be fined three times of the illegal profits with the maximum of not more than 30,000 yuan; those who have no illegal income may be fined up to 10,000 yuan.