During trademark application process, the Trademark Office sometimes issues a notice to the applicant. Some of the documents issued by the Trademark Office are transmitted in electronic form, and some are transmitted in the form of paper registered mail. The applicant will pay special attention to the progress of the application at the trademark application stage, and generally will not cause the loss or forgetting of paper documents. However, after the completion of trademark application, when the trademark registrant encounters trademark opposition or other situations where the Trademark Office will issue notice in paper and require timely respondence, the registrant may fail to receive the notice, which may adversely affect his or her trademark registration. So how can one avoid not receiving documents from the Trademark Office?
Types of Notification from the Trademark Office
If the trademark application is handled by a trademark agency, most documents will be dispatched to the agency, and the trademark registrant does not need to worry about not receiving documents in a timely manner. However, official documents such as the Notice of Trademark Review will be directly sent to the registrant's address.
Trademark review is a legal remedy for confirming or safeguarding rights when a trademark is challenged by another party, such as in a case of invalidation. Trademark review includes such conditions as where the registrant need to response to invalidation notices, re-examination of refusal to register, or re-examination of cancellation.
Registrants who fail to receive the above notices will be absent from the review process, which may lead to serious consequences such as trademark invalidation, causing unnecessary trouble and losses to enterprise.
The following is a summary of the issuance of official documents from China Trademark Office compiled by WEIPR:
Number | Notification | Addressee | Time Limit for Response |
1 | Notice of Payment | Agency | Completion of Payment within 7 Days |
2 | Notice of Acceptance | Agency | none |
3 | Notice on the Publication of Preliminary Examination and Approval | Agency | none |
4 | Registration Certificate | Agency | none |
5 | Certificate on Trademark Modification / Assignment / Renewal | Agency | none |
6 | Notice of Rejection / Partial Rejection | Agency | 15 Days |
7 | Notice of Objection | Notices are sent to the Applicant, CC to the Agency (Foreign applicant’s notice would be sent to domestic contact.) | 30 Days |
8 | Notice of Response to Trademark Review (Response to Trademark Invalidation / Revocation Due to Non-Use of Three Consecutive Years) | Notices are sent to the Applicant, CC to the Agency | 30 Days |
9 | Notice of Providing Evidence of Use | Notices are sent to the Applicant, CC to the Agency | 2 Months |
10 | Notice of Exchanging Evidence | Agency | 30 Days |
11 | Review Decision | Agency | 30 Days |
12 | Objection Decision | Agency | Application for Review of Registration Rejection should be submitted within 15 Days |
13 | Invalidation Ruling | Agency | 30 Days |
14 | Revocation Decision | Notices are sent to the Applicant, CC to the Agency | 15 Days |
15 | Notice of Correction | Agency | 30 Days |
16 | Review Opinion | Agency | 30 Days |
Attention: According to Article 10 of the "Regulations on Electronic Trademark Applications" (Announcement No. 323) issued by the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA), the date of electronic service of trademark documents by the CNIPA shall be deemed as having been served on the party concerned upon the expiration of 15 days from the date of issuance of the document. |
Reasons for Failure of Receiving the Notification from the Trademark Office
1. Inaccurate address: The trademark registrant's company moved to a new address, and the address of the trademark application for registration was not updated in a timely manner. As a result, the registered mail is still sent to the old address of the trademark application for registration, and no one signs for it, and it is returned to the Trademark Office.
2. No one to sign for the registered letter: The registered postal mail is delivered to the letter receiving point of the building at the address of the registrant or the security room or the guard room, and no one signs for the registered letter, and the postal courier will bring the registered letter back to the delivery station, and then hand over the registered letter to the post office collection point in the area where the registrant is located, and if no one comes to claim it for one month, it will be returned to the sender.
3. Loss of registered mail: The registered letter was signed, but due to the security guard or the doorman's lack of understanding of the official document of the trademark, the registered letter was submerged or ignored, resulting in the loss of the registered letter, and the trademark registrant could not know the trademark situation in time.
Solutions
1. Paragraph 2 of Article 10 of the Regulations for the Implementation of the Trademark Law stipulates that if a document cannot be served, it may be served by public announcement, and the document shall be deemed to have been served on the parties concerned after 30 days from the date of publication of the announcement. The trademark announcement is published every Monday, and the trademark registrant can regularly check the trademark announcement (on the Home of the official website of the Trademark Office), click the latest announcement, select the service announcement as the announcement type, and enter his name in the applicant column to check whether there is a notice that has been returned and cannot be delivered.
If a missing notice is found, then:
(1) Check whether the address is accurate: First, the registrant needs to check whether the address provided is accurate. If you have any questions, you can contact the Trademark Office in time and verify.
(2) Inquire about delivery records: The registrant can check the delivery records of registered mail to know whether the notice has been successfully delivered. If it shows that the delivery is not successful, you can contact the courier company in time to understand the cause and remedy.
(3) Request for reissuance: If it is confirmed that the registered letter has been lost, the registrant can contact the Trademark Office to reissue it based on specific circumstances.
2. The registered mail may be sent to the address of the centralized collection in the area where the trademark registrant's company is located instead of the company's precise address, and it is recommended to communicate and reach a consensus with the local post office and let the postman deliver it to the designated address, so that it can be received in time.
3. If the security guard or doorman signs the registered letter document but does not deliver it to the relevant personnel in time, it is recommended to popularize the relevant knowledge of the trademark with them, so that they can understand the importance of the document issued by the Trademark Office and prevent omission.
4. The trademark registrant enterprise should also establish a sound trademark application process management system to ensure that every link of the application process is handled in a standardized manner. In the meantime, enterprises can strengthen communication and collaboration with trademark agencies in order to keep abreast of the progress of the application and protect the rights and interests of the registrant. In addition, for commercial cooperation and trading activities involving trademarks, enterprises should fully understand the rights and obligations of relevant parties to avoid disputes or losses arising from trademark issues.
Conclusion
In short, when encountering a situation where the documents issued by the Trademark Office are not received in a timely manner, the trademark registrant should remain calm and take active measures to resolve the situation. By understanding the process of sending the notice, analyzing the cause of the loss, and taking effective solutions, you can protect your rights and interests to the greatest extent. At the same time, in order to avoid the recurrence of similar problems, registrants should pay attention to the accuracy of the address, track the delivery status of mail, and improve the management system of the trademark application process.
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