To further improve application efficiency and guide applicants in applying for the cancellation against a registered trademark not used for three consecutive years without justifiable reasons, the Trademark Office has revised the content of "Application for Cancellation against a Trademark Not Used for Three Consecutive Years" published in March 2023. The revised content is as follows:

I. Legal Basis and Application Conditions

According to Article 49 of the "Trademark Law of the People's Republic of China" and Article 66 of the "Implementation Regulations of Trademark Law", any unit or individual may apply to the National Intellectual Property Administration (hereinafter refer to “CNIPA”) for the cancellation of a registered trademark that has not been used for three consecutive years without justifiable reasons, and should provide relevant circumstances when submitting the application.

II. Application Channels

1. Applicants may submit their application through the trademark online service system. For details on the submission method, see the "Online Application" section of the China Trademark Net. The URL of the trademark online service system is: https://sbj.cnipa.gov.cn/sbj/wssq/

2. Applicants can go to the Trademark Registration Hall of the CNIPA to handle it:

Office address: No. 1 Chama South Street, Xicheng District, Beijing, Postal Code: 100055

Office hours: 8:30-11:30, 13:30-16:30

Consultation phone: 86 10 - 63218500

3. Entrust a trademark agency that has recorded with the CNIPA to handle it.

III. Application Materials

1. Documents to be submitted

- "Application for Cancellation of a Trademark Not Used for Three Consecutive Years";

- Preliminary evidence of the trademark not used for three consecutive years without justifiable reasons, such as online search results, market survey reports, etc.;

- A copy of the applicant's identity document (business registration license, ID card, etc.) stamped or signed;

- If handled by a trademark agency, submit a Power of Attorney.

2. Specific requirements

- Applicants should truthfully fill in the application form as required and should not modify the format without authorization. The application form should be typed or printed.

- The applicant's name and the name on the seal (signature) should be consistent with the name in the identity document. If the applicant is a natural person, the ID number should be filled in after the name.

- The applicant's address should be prefixed with the name of the administrative division such as province, city, and county. The applicant should fill in the address according to the identity document. If the address in the identity document does not have the name of the province, city, and county, the applicant should add the corresponding administrative division name. If the applicant is a natural person, a correspondence address can be filled in.

- If the application is filed by a trademark agency, the name of the agency should be filled in and the agent's signature and the agency's seal should be affixed in the "Agency Seal/Agent Signature" area.

- If applying for the non-use cancellation against a joint-owned trademark, the "Trademark Registrant" section should be filled with the name of the representative of the joint-owned trademark.

- If applying for the non-use cancellation against the trademark over some designated goods/services, the section "Goods/Services" should be filled with the goods/services to be cancelled, and the descriptions of such goods/services should be the same as the ones specifically designated in the trademark, with each item separated by a semicolon.  If applying for the non-use cancellation of all the designated goods/services, the word "all" should be filled in.

- According to the "Implementation Regulations of Trademark Law", the applicant should state the circumstances of the trademark not used for three consecutive years without justifiable reasons in the cancellation pleading, and attach preliminary evidence of non-use, such as online search results, market survey reports, etc.

- If the applicant is a legal entity or other organization, it should stamp in the "Applicant Seal (Signature)" section. If the applicant is a natural person, it should sign the document. The seal or signature should be complete and clear.

- Before submitting the application, the applicant should check the registration status of the trademark and fill in the "Application for Cancellation of a Trademark Not Used for Three Consecutive Years" according to the current registrant of the trademark.

- To apply for the non-use cancellation of a registered trademark, the application should be made to the National Intellectual Property Administration after three years from the date of registration announcement of the trademark.

- To apply for the non-use cancellation of an international registration according to Article 49, Paragraph 2 of the Trademark Law, the application should be made to the CNIPA after three years from the expiration of the rejection period of the international registration application. If the rejection period expires while still in the review or opposition procedures, the application should be made after three years from the date when the decision to grant registration by the CNIPA takes effect.

- If the party is dissatisfied with the decision, they can apply for reconsideration to the CNIPA within 15 days from the date of receiving the revocation decision.

- "Applicant's Commitment" section: Before submitting the application, the applicant should carefully read the content of the applicant's commitment. Once the application is submitted, it is considered that the applicant accepts the commitment content.

- The subject qualification proof documents submitted by the applicant should comply with the requirements of Section 5.1, Chapter 1, Part 1 of the "Trademark Examination and Adjudication Guidelines": Power of Attorney and other documents should comply with the requirements of Section 5.2, Chapter 1, Part 1 of the "Trademark Examination and Adjudication Guidelines."

- Preliminary investigation evidence includes but is not limited to the following: the business scope or scope of operations, operating status of the trademark registrant, market survey of the trademark, and related investigations are not limited to professional search platforms, the registrant's official website, WeChat public account, e-commerce platforms, offline production and operation places, and other online searches, market research, field investigations, and other evidence materials.

IV. Pay the fee

After the CNIPA receives the non-use cancellation application and upon review finds it meets the acceptance conditions, it will issue an official fee payment notice to the applicant. If the applicant fails to pay the fee as required, the application will not be accepted and the applicant will be notified in writing. The fee is charged per Class. For specific fee standards, please refer to: https://sbj.cnipa.gov.cn/sbj/sbsq/sfbz/

V. Receiving trademark documents

After the applicant pays the fee as required, an acceptance notice of non-use cancellation application will be issued to the applicant, and a "Notice on Providing Evidence of Trademark Use" will be sent to the trademark registrant. After the CNIPA receives the evidence of trademark use provided by the registrant, it will review the evidence materials and make a decision on whether to cancel the registered trademark, and notify the registrant and the applicant who applied for non-use cancellation application in writing. If the matter is handled by a trademark agency, the decision will be mailed to the trademark agency.

VI. Notes

1. Please read the instructions on the back of the application form carefully.

2. The applicant's name, address, postal code, and telephone number and other contact information must be clearly an

Source of Information: Trademark Office, National Intellectual Property Administration