After registering a trademark, some registrants put it aside for a long time waiting for others to buy it; some registrants changed or disappeared, but their registered trademarks were not revoked. These long-term unused registered trademarks not only waste national resources, but also prevent others from registering the trademark on similar goods, creating actual unfair competition. Article 44 of the "Trademark Law" stipulates that if a registered trademark is used and "has been stopped for three consecutive years", "the Trademark Office shall order it to make corrections within a time limit or cancel the registered trademark."
According to the provisions of my country’s Trademark Law and the Implementation Regulations of the Trademark Law, anyone who believes that a registered trademark has ceased to be used for three consecutive years can apply to the Trademark Office of the State Administration for Industry and Commerce to cancel the registered trademark. . After receiving the application, the Trademark Office will notify the trademark registrant to submit evidence of use of the trademark or explain the legitimate reasons for non-use within two months. If no evidence of valid use is submitted upon expiration of the period or there is no justifiable reason, the Trademark Office will revoke the registered trademark.
For example, in May 1995, a materials company in Jiangsu Province applied for the Liangcai trademark to the Trademark Office of the State Administration for Industry and Commerce, and the registration was approved in January 1997. Afterwards, a materials company in Zhejiang Province filed a request with the Trademark Office to revoke Liangcai’s registered trademark on the grounds that the trademark had not been used for three consecutive years. It also provided materials for investigation and evidence collection, including that a materials company in Jiangsu Province had not purchased equipment or produced production. Above is evidence such as a shell factory. After accepting the application, the Trademark Office issued a "Notice on Providing Evidence of Use of Registered Trademarks" to a materials company in Jiangsu Province. The company did not respond within the specified period and did not provide any proof. The Trademark Office finally ruled to cancel Liangcai’s registered trademark.
For another example, 3 years ago, Company A proposed to the Trademark Office of the State Administration for Industry and Commerce that the GNC trademark No. 1129187 assigned to Company B should be revoked if it has not been used for 3 consecutive years. The Trademark Office subsequently ruled to revoke the trademark. . Company B submitted a review application to the Trademark Review and Adjudication Board of the State Administration for Industry and Commerce. The Trademark Review and Adjudication Board ruled that Company B intended to use the trademark and the trademark should be maintained. Company A was dissatisfied with the TRAB ruling and filed an administrative lawsuit with the Beijing No. 1 Intermediate People's Court. The Beijing No. 1 Intermediate People's Court accepted the Trademark Review and Adjudication Board's opinion and upheld its ruling. Company A appealed to the Beijing Higher People's Court. The Beijing High Court ruled that the trademark should be revoked.
The above two cases are typical cases of registered trademarks being "revoked after stopping use for three consecutive years." Such cases happen all around us. If someone else files an application for cancellation on the grounds that a trademark has "stopped use for three consecutive years," the trademark owner should provide evidence that he or she has used the trademark during these three years. Because the rights holder knows best whether to use it or not, and has the ability to prove it better than others. Therefore, if the trademark owner believes that his trademark should not be revoked, he should provide evidence of the use of the trademark. On the contrary, if the applicant conducts inquiries before trademark registration and finds that someone else’s previously registered trademark is the same or similar to the trademark he is applying for registration, and if after investigation it is found that it has not been used within 3 years, he can apply for "3 consecutive years". On the grounds that it has not been used for "years", he filed an application to cancel the registered trademark in order to achieve the purpose of registering his own trademark.