Trademark examination standards stipulate that administrative divisions at or above the county level include counties, autonomous counties, county-level cities and municipal districts; Prefecture-level cities, autonomous prefectures, regions and leagues; Provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions at the provincial level; Two special administrative regions, namely Hong Kong and Macao; Taiwan Province Province. The names of administrative divisions at or above the county level shall be subject to the Outline of Administrative Divisions of the People's Republic of China edited and published by the Ministry of Civil Affairs. The names of administrative divisions above the county level include the full names, abbreviations and pinyin forms of provinces, autonomous regions, municipalities directly under the central government, provincial capital cities, cities under separate state planning and famous tourist cities above the county level; Foreign place names known to the public refer to the place names of other countries and regions outside China known to the public in China. Place names include full names, abbreviations, mbth and commonly used Chinese translations.

Place names have other meanings, which means that place names have definite meanings as words, which are stronger than those as place names and will not mislead the public.

(1) Examination of trademarks containing the names of administrative divisions at or above the county level

Where a trademark consists of or contains the names of administrative divisions above the county level, it shall be judged to be the same as the names of administrative divisions above the county level in China. Except in any of the following circumstances:

1, the place name has other meaning and its meaning is stronger than that of the place name.

2. Trademarks are composed of words such as place names, which have obvious characteristics on the whole and will not cause public misunderstanding about the origin of goods.

3. The name of the applicant contains a place name, and the applicant applies for registration with its full name as a trademark.

4. Trademarks are composed of abbreviations of place names of two or more administrative divisions, which will not mislead the public about the origin of goods. However, it is easy for consumers to misunderstand the origin characteristics or service content of their designated goods, and the relevant provisions of the Trademark Law shall be applied to determine that it has adverse effects and reject it.

5. Trademarks are composed of pinyin forms of place names other than provinces, autonomous regions, municipalities directly under the Central Government, provincial capital cities, cities with separate plans and famous tourist cities, and will not mislead the public about the origin of goods.

6. Place names are part of collective trademarks or certification trademarks.

(2) Examining trademarks known to the public that contain foreign place names.

Where a trademark consists of or contains a foreign place name known to the public, it shall be deemed to be the same as the foreign place name known to the public. However, a trademark consists of foreign place names and other well-known characters, except that it has other meaning as a whole and its use on designated goods will not make the public misunderstand the origin of the goods.

(3) Where the word composition of a trademark is different from the place name of an administrative division at or above the county level in China or a foreign place name well known to the public, but the font and pronunciation are similar enough to make the public mistake the place name and cause misunderstanding of the origin of the goods, it shall be deemed as having adverse effects and rejected in accordance with the provisions of the Trademark Law.

(4) Where a trademark contains or contains a well-known place name in China other than the above provisions, and it is easy for the public to misunderstand the origin of the goods when it is used on the designated goods, it shall be deemed as having an adverse effect and shall be rejected by applying the relevant provisions of the Trademark Law. However, the designated use of goods has no specific connection with the marked place or region except that it will not cause public misunderstanding about the origin of goods.

(5) Where a place name in a trademark is independent of other marks with distinctive features and is only used to truly indicate the location of the applicant, the relevant provisions of the Trademark Law shall not apply.

Where the place name contained in a trademark is inconsistent with the applicant's location, which may easily lead to misunderstanding by the public and adversely affect the judgment, it shall be rejected by applying the provisions of the Trademark Law.

If the applicant is a natural person, the address stated in the resident identity card or passport shall prevail; If the applicant is a legal person or other organization, the domicile stated in the business license shall prevail.