Published: February 8, 2021
Category: Intellectual Property Law
By: David Cui
With the development of China's economy and the improvement of intellectual property protection law, China Trademark Office has become the busiest trademark management organization in the world, and it is very common for examiners to work overtime. On the other hand, the existence of a large number of registered trademarks makes it more and more difficult to register new trademarks. Many trademark applications are hindered by prior trademarks. The possible solutions of the applicant include but are not limited to raising objection according to the specific situation, negotiating the consent to assign, invalidation request, objection or cancellation due to non-use. In these resolutions, non-use cancellation is increasingly effective . This article will explain the reasons and procedures of applying for revocation in China for not using a registered trademark.
Non-use reasons
China adopts the system of first-to-file to secure a trademark, and the Trademark Office will not take the initiative to check whether the registered trademark is in use or not;
Many parties rush to register, misappropriate or imitate the trademarks of others in order to blackmail the legal brand owner;
Many enterprises register a lot of trademarks in order to protect their own interests. These defensive registered trademarks are only used for defensive purposes, not for actual use;
There are business restrictions in many industries access, such as tobacco, alcohol, weapons, etc., but there are almost no restrictions on trademark registration. In these industries, even though there are many registered trademarks, most of them are not put into use because they are not allowed to run the business;
The owner of the registered trademark has gone bankrupt and has not used the trademark.
Application for cancellation and burden of proof
According to China's trademark law, if a trademark has been registered for more than three years, any unit or individual may initiate the cancellation. In order to prove the unused facts, a simple survey report (usually online search results) is sufficient. Thereafter, the burden of proof will be borne by the trademark owner who needs to prove the actual operation and use of the trademark in the past three years.
Trademark use proof
The use of trademarks under trademark law mainly includes: the use of trademarks on commodities, packages or containers of commodities; the use of trademarks on transaction documents of commodities or in advertisements, exhibitions and other commercial activities.
注册商标不使用会被撤销
中国经济的发展及对知识产权保护法律的完善，中国商标局已经成为世界上最繁忙的商标管理机构，审查人员加班加点的现象非常普遍。另一方面，大量注册商标的存在使得注册新商标的难度越来越大。很多商标受到在先商标的阻碍，申请人可能的解决方案包括但不限于根据具体情况提出异议、协商转让同意书、请求无效、反对或因不实用而取消。在这些决议中，不使用撤销越来越有效。本文将解释在中国因不使用注册商标而申请撤销的原因和程序。
注册商标未被使用的原因
中国采用先申请后申请的原则，商标局不会主动检查注册商标是否在使用；
许多当事人抢注、盗用他人的商标或者模仿他人的商标，以达到勒索合法权利人的目的；
很多企业出于保护自身利益出发，先注册了很多商标。这些防御性注册商标仅用于防御性目的，不用于实际使用；
很多行业存在经营限制，如烟草、酒精、武器等，但对商标注册几乎没有限制。在这类行业中，即使注册商标众多，大多数因没有业务，也没有投入使用；
注册商标的所有者已经破产，而没有使用商标。
撤销申请及举证
根据中国商标法，商标注册三年以上的，任何单位或者个人都可以发起撤销。为了证明未使用状态，一份简单的调查报告（通常是在线搜索结果）就足够了。此后，举证责任将由需要证明商标在过去三年内实际经营使用情况的商标所有人承担。
商标使用证明
商标法意义上的商标使用，主要包括：将商标用于商品上、商品包装或容器上；将商标用于商品交易文书上或将商标用于广告宣传、展览以及其他商业活动中。
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