According to Article 49 of the Trademark Law: If a registered trademark becomes the common name of the goods approved for use or has not been used for three consecutive years without justifiable reasons, any unit or individual may apply to the Trademark Office Cancel the registered trademark. That is, the trademark "withdrawal of three" is a registered trademark revocation process.

After the trademark is successfully withdrawn, the original trademark holder will lose the exclusive rights to the trademark and will be unable to continue to use the trademark on goods or services, pre-advertisement of the trademark, etc. The investment will also be in vain and will cause serious waste of resources and economic losses to the original trademark holder, so it must be treated with caution.

Anyone can request the cancellation of another person’s trademark

Article 49, paragraph 2, of my country’s Trademark Law stipulates that if a registered trademark is not used for three consecutive years without justifiable reasons , any unit or individual may apply to the Trademark Office to cancel the trademark.

Generally speaking, a trademark that meets the two conditions of "no legitimate reason" and "not used for three consecutive years" can be submitted for "withdrawal" application. Therefore, enterprises want to protect (non-use) Defensive trademarks registered for the purpose of use), as well as idle trademarks that have been approved for registration for more than three years but have never been actually used, are all facing the risk of being filed with "three withdrawals" applications by others.

Although the "Trademark Law" allows any unit or individual to submit a "withdrawal" application to the Trademark Office, at the same time, Article 66 of the "Trademark Law Implementation Regulations" stipulates that units and individuals must submit a trademark withdrawal application to the Trademark Office. When applying for "withdrawal of three trademarks", you should explain the relevant circumstances of the trademark to the Trademark Office.

After the Trademark Office accepts the "Withdrawal of Three" application, it will issue a "Notice of Providing Evidence of Use of a Registered Trademark" to the trademark holder. The trademark holder must wait 2 months from the date of receipt of the notice. Submit within the time limit evidence of the use of the trademark before the cancellation application or explain the legitimate reasons for non-use. If the evidence is not provided within the time limit or the evidence is invalid, the Trademark Office will cancel the registered trademark.

After being raped and withdrawn for three years, what evidence of use should be collected?

So, what is the effective evidence of "use"?

Article 48 of my country's "Trademark Law" stipulates the definition of "use" of a trademark, that is, "using a trademark on goods, commodity packaging or containers, and commodity transaction documents, or using a trademark for advertising Behaviors used to identify the source of goods in publicity, exhibitions and other commercial activities.”

Therefore, trademark use that meets the above standards, such as liquor manufacturers printing trademarks on wine bottles, automobile manufacturers will Trademarks made into real objects and mounted on the front of cars, companies repeatedly displaying their trademarks in advertising videos, etc. can all be submitted as evidence of trademark use.

In addition, I would like to remind everyone that when collecting evidence, you should pay attention to the consistency of the trademark and registered trademark reflected in the evidence, as well as the time of formation of the evidence, etc., to ensure the effectiveness of the "use" evidence to maximize the effectiveness of the evidence. Ensure that trademarks are not “withdrawn” to the maximum extent possible.

It is worth noting that the legal provisions related to "withdrawal of three" also stipulate special circumstances under which a registered trademark can not be used for three consecutive years, which is what the "Trademark Law" refers to as "having "Justifiable reasons" for not using a registered trademark.

According to Article 67 of the "Regulations for the Implementation of the Trademark Law", non-use of a registered trademark for three consecutive years due to force majeure, government policy restrictions, bankruptcy and liquidation, etc., is considered a "justifiable reason". The trademark will not be revoked. If a registered drug trademark has not been used for three consecutive years due to drug marketing approval and other reasons, it is considered "justifiable" and will not be revoked due to the "withdrawal of three" clauses.

"Standard" instructions for providing evidence of trademark use

On August 13, 2018, the Trademark Office issued relevant instructions on providing evidence of trademark use, clarifying the specific manifestations of trademark use. , and listed situations that are not considered trademark use within the meaning of my country’s trademark law.

1. The specific forms of trademark use on designated goods are:

1. The trademark is attached to the goods or product packaging by direct affixing, engraving, branding or weaving. , containers, labels, etc., or used on additional product labels, product instructions, introduction manuals, price lists, etc.;

2. The trademark is used on transaction documents related to the sale of the product, including use on Commodity sales contracts, invoices, bills, receipts, commodity import and export inspection and quarantine certificates, customs declaration documents, etc.;

3. The trademark is used in radio, television and other media, or published in publicly issued publications , as well as advertising for the trademark or goods using the trademark through billboards, mailing advertisements or other advertising methods;

4. Use of the trademark at exhibitions and expos, including providing services at exhibitions and expositions Printed materials and other materials using the trademark;

5. Other forms of trademark use that comply with legal provisions.

2. The specific forms of trademark use in designated services are:

1. The trademark is directly used in service places, including service introduction brochures, service place signboards, and stores. On decorations, staff clothing, posters, menus, price lists, lottery tickets, office stationery, letterheads and other supplies related to designated services;

2. The trademark is used on documents related to the service, Such as invoices, remittance documents, service provision agreements, repair and maintenance certificates, etc.;

3. The trademark is used on radio, television and other media, or published in publicly issued publications, as well as on billboards, mailings, etc. Advertisements or other advertising methods for trademarks or services using trademarks;

4. Use of trademarks at exhibitions and expos, including printed matter and products using the trademark provided at exhibitions and expos. Other information;

5. Other forms of trademark use that comply with legal provisions.

3. The following situations are not considered trademark use within the meaning of the Trademark Law:

1. The publication of trademark registration information or the trademark registrant’s right to enjoy its registered trademark Statement of exclusive rights;

2. Not used in public commercial fields;

3. Only used as gifts;

4. Only transfer or license Behavior without actual use;

5. Symbolic use only for the purpose of maintaining trademark registration.

4. Submitting only the following evidence will not be regarded as trademark use within the meaning of the Trademark Law:

1. Goods sales contract or agreement or contract for the provision of services;

2. Written testimony;

3. Physical evidence, audio-visual materials, website information, etc. that are difficult to identify whether they have been modified;

4. Physical objects and replicas.

5. If one of the following circumstances occurs, it is a valid reason for not using it for three consecutive years:

1. Force majeure;

2. Government policy restrictions ;

3. Bankruptcy and liquidation;

4. Other legitimate reasons that cannot be attributed to the trademark registrant.

As we all know, registered trademarks are exclusive, unique and exclusive, and other companies and individuals cannot use them without permission or authorization. If a registered trademark is not used for three consecutive years without legitimate reasons, it will not only prevent the registered trademark from exerting its value, but will also affect the companies and individuals who want to register and use the trademark, resulting in a huge waste of trademark resources.

In the final analysis, the purpose of the "withdrawal of three" clauses in the "Trademark Law" is only to clean up idle trademarks and reduce the waste of trademark resources. We also advise companies and individuals to standardize the use of registered trademarks. At the same time, Don't blindly submit applications for "withdrawal of trademarks" for the sake of commercial competition or grabbing trademark resources, which is a waste of public resources.