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How to apply for cancellation on the grounds of non-use for three consecutive years?

How to make a withdrawal request on the grounds of non-use for three consecutive years?

Although it is not compulsory to use a trademark in China after trademark registration, it is still possible to revoke the trademark for subsequent application by requesting to submit evidence of use to free up space. It is relatively easy to file a cancellation request in China on the grounds of non-use for three consecutive years, because the challenger does not even need to investigate and submit any documents to support its claim. Only a signed power of attorney, application form, and challenger’s identification document will suffice.

Who can make a cancellation request?
Anyone can submit a cancellation request by submitting a simple request and specifying a three-year period. The three-year period shall be rolled back from the filing date of the cancellation request. How long does it take for a trademark to be cancelled? After filing an application for cancellation, the Trademark Office will conduct a formal examination of the application within about two months and issue a “Notice of Receipt of Recordation”. A formal notice is then given to the trademark owner within one month to request proof of use within a specified period. The decision will be issued approximately nine months from the filing date.

What is the remedy for cancellation?
If someone challenges your trademark through a cancellation and you miss or fail to respond to the cancellation, you can file a trademark review appeal after making a cancellation request.

What is use evidence? According to the latest official notice of the Trademark Infringement Standards, the use of a trademark can be summarized as:
1) Trademarks used on goods, product packaging, containers, service premises, transaction documents, 2) or used in commercial activities such as advertisements, exhibitions, etc. to identify the source of goods or services. But in practice, evidence of use does not exist in insolation, and the amount of evidence of use and the purpose of use are fairly standard. For example, promoting trademark information to declare trademark ownership, use trademarks on giveaways, assign trademarks, or use trademarks symbolically.



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