Since January 1, 2022, the National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) has implemented the "Trademark Examination and Trial Guidelines," which replaced the previous "Trademark Examination and Trial Standards." The new guidelines aim to standardize the trademark examination and trial procedures, ensuring the uniformity of legal application and consistent implementation of standards in all aspects of trademark examination and trial. [1] Among them, in the section of "Judging the Circumstances of Not Using a Registered Trademark for Three Consecutive Years," the "Trademark Examination and Trial Guidelines" have set clearer criteria for reviewing evidence of trademark use compared to the previous "Trademark Examination and Trial Standards." Correspondingly, in practice, based on the decisions issued by the CNIPA regarding trademark cancellation and reexamination, the scrutiny of evidence of use has also become more stringent.
In the trademark cancellation stage, the Trademark Office strictly examines the evidence of use based on identical/similar groups. Both the "Trademark Examination and Trial Guidelines" and the previous "Trademark Examination and Trial Standards" stipulate that a trademark registrant's use of a trademark on a specific approved goods/service can only maintain the registration of the trademark on similar groups of goods/services, and the registration on other non-similar goods/services should be canceled. [2] However, the difference is that the "Trademark Examination and Trial Guidelines" have moved this provision from the end of the chapter on "Judging the Circumstances of Not Using a Registered Trademark for Three Consecutive Years" to a slightly earlier position within the chapter. This, to a certain extent, reflects the increased importance placed by the authorities on this provision. Correspondingly, in the trademark cancellation stage, the Trademark Office has strictly implemented this provision, strictly examining the evidence of use based on identical/similar groups. Even in the trademark cancellation stage, trademark registrants can no longer rely solely on their use of a trademark on a specific goods/service to maintain the registration of the trademark on dissimilar goods/services. Therefore, it is not difficult to understand that since 2022, a new type of trademark cancellation decision result has emerged in the trademark cancellation stage - "partial cancellation."
