Meanings of the Letters in the Trademark Number – Kangxin Intellectual Property Lawyers

Meanings of the Letters in the Trademark Number

date: 2024-10-08 Yijia Li Read by:

In mainland China, the application number of a trademark is also the registration number, generally consisting of Arabic numerals alone. However, there are exceptions. During the trademark registration application process, if a trademark is partially rejected for certain goods or services and the applicant submits a response for review, they have the option to file a divisional application for the approved goods or services under their trademark. Once the divisional application is approved, the National Intellectual Property Administration, PRC (“CNIPA”) will assign a separate application number for the divided trademark. In order to differentiate it from the original trademark, the naming convention for the application number of this divided trademark is to append the English letter A after the original application number.

Here is a sample of divided trademark in mainland China:

In addition, various letters also represent different meanings in the trademark registration numbers for international registrations designated into China.

1. The trademark registration numbers for international registrations extended to China all have the letter G added in front to distinguish them from national trademark registration numbers. The letter G represents the first letter of the Pinyin of the Chinese character "Guo" in "GuoJi" which means “international”. When searching for international trademarks on the CNIPA's public trademark database, you need to add the letter G before the international registration number for the search. However, when searching on the WIPO website, there is no need to add the letter G.

Here is an example of records for an international registration in China:

2. When there is an additional letter H after the international registration number, this indicates that the trademark was subsequently designated into China. If there are multiple subsequent designations following the international registration, numbers are added after the letter H. For instance, the first subsequent designation would be "international registration number + H", the second subsequent designation would be "international registration number + H2", and so forth.

Here is an example of records for an international registration with second subsequent designation into China:

3. The letters A, B, C, etc. added after the international registration number represent partial transfers. The WIPO adds the letter A after the international registration number to indicate a partial transfer, adds the letter B for the second partial transfer, and so on.

Here is an example of records for an international registration with a partial transfer in China:

4. Adding an "S" after the international registration number signifies that the international trademark is invalid. The "S" represents the first letter of the Pinyin of the Chinese character "Shi" in "Shi Xiao". The reason for invalidity is usually due to the original application content being corrected and replaced by a new application. Below is an example:

In addition to the letters representing specific meanings in the application number or registration number of a trademark, the refusal notification issued by the CNIPA also contains letters representing specific meanings.

For example, if a national trademark application is rejected, the letters "BHTZ" in the document number represents "refusal notification", and "BFBH" represents "partial refusal". These letters represent the first letter of the Pinyin of the related Chinese characters.

For the international registration extended into China, the letters "BH" in the refusal notification represents "refusal", followed by the letter Y indicating that the refusal notification is written in English, and the letter F indicating that the refusal notification is in French.