The China Trademark Office (CTMO) has adopted a new practice. Previously, applicants for non-use cancellation needed to submit prima facie evidence showing that no use of the questioned mark could be found through desktop searches. Generally, search results for the mark, designated goods or services, and the registrant on Baidu (the most popular search engine in China) or Alibaba would meet the CTMO’s requirements.
Since January 2025, the CTMO started issuing Office Actions (the official name is Notification for Amendments) requesting the submission of detailed information about the registrant and more results from different search engines. The threshold to meet the formality examination of the prima facie evidence has become higher and more specific.
Background
The new practice is part of the CTMO’s response to the significant rise in non-use cancellation actions. The total number of valid trademark registrations reached around 50 million by the end of 2024. New applications often face multiple citations. To remove these prior obstacles, the number of non-use cancellations has risen rapidly since 2023. Additionally, the CTMO received numerous complaints about non-use cancellations filed in bad faith whereby registrants were “blackmailed” into paying compensation for the withdrawal of the cancellation. To alleviate the burden on registrants, especially those harmed by bad faith parties, the CTMO increased the burden of proof on applicants for non-use cancellations.
New Requirements
Based on the updated requirements, the applicant needs to submit at the following documents:
Comments
While this practice change may be an additional burden on applicants in the short term, the additional evidence requirements should not impact bona fide non-use cancellations filed to remove citations for later-filed new applications.
