As of today, the 19 May 2021, TMview will include trade mark data made available by the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA), taking the total number of trade marks in the search tool from 62 to over 90 million from 75 participating IP Offices.
The China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA; Chinese: 国家知识产权局) is the patent and trademark office of the People’s Republic of China (PRC).
USPTO updates China IPR toolkit May 18, 2021 The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) recently updated the China Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) toolkit to reflect the recent changes made to China’s intellectual property (IP)-related laws and government structure.Originally published in October 2019, the toolkit provides general guidance for businesses and practitioners in better understanding the basics of the IP landscape in China. Published in May 2021, the updated China IPR toolkit highlights the differences between the U.S. and Chinese IP rights legal systems.
What happens if two applicants file similar trademark applications on the same day? Who gets priority? How does the IP office deal with this situation? Article 31 of China Trademark Law lays out the provisions for same-day applications as such: “Where two or more applicants apply to register identical or similar trademarks for use on the same kind of goods or similar goods, the trademark office shall first conduct examination of, give approval to and announce the trademark whose registration is applied for earlier than the rest. Where the applications are filed on the same day, the trademark office shall first examine, give approval to and announce the trademark which is used earlier that the rest, and it shall reject the applications for registration of the other trademarks and shall not announce them.”