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CHINA / TRADE MARKS / REGISTRATION

Actively Coping with the Dramatic Increase of Trade Mark Registration Applications

An Qinghu

China Patents and Trade Marks, Vol 73 No 2, April 2003

This article begins with some remarkable statistics about trade mark applications and registrations in China. In the year 2002, the total number of applications for trade mark registration reached 372,000, of which 213,000 were approved, bringing the total number of registered trade marks in China to 1,665,000. The article describes, first, the ways in which the authorities coped with these staggering figures and, second, the plans being undertaken to enable the authorities to cope more effectively in the future. Five factors are referred to by the author of the article - the Commissioner of the Trade Mark Office of the State Administration for Industry and Commerce - as having affected the efficiency of last year's performance. One was an increase in the number of examinations carried out by each examiner: an average of 3,008 per year, as against 1,912 the previous year. Another was the development of automation, coupled with a scheme for ensuring greater uniformity among the examiners' decisions. A third was a review of the existing administrative rules. A fourth was a more extensive programme for the enforcement of trade mark law. A fifth was a greater degree of international exchanges and cooperation. To some extent these factors are reflected in the seven point proposals for coping more efficiently in the current year. Point one, for example, envisages an extension of automation, along with greater staff training in the use of computers and the importance of communication. Point two is concerned with enforcement and cooperation with the courts, prosecutors' offices, public security bureaus and customs "to pool all the forces in the joint protection of the exclusive rights of trade marks". Point three has two heads: research into measures intended to improve work quality and efficiency, with particular reference to the evaluation and promotion of examiners; and a study of improved methods of dealing with geographical indications and well known marks. Point four covers the training of trade mark lawyers and business executives and the "popularizing" of the Trade Mark Law. Point five refers to enhancing international cooperation by means of bilateral and multilateral exchanges and through WIPO and the WTO, with a view to protecting Chinese trade mark related rights and interests. Point six harks back to the earlier policies in calling for the improvement of Trade Mark Office staff proficiency and "awareness", mainly through training and exhortation. Point seven stresses the need for extending the information network and the transparency of the administration's trade mark related work. The article concludes that "in the ra of technology based economy, in which science and technology are in constant change, and competition between nations becomes increasingly tense, the trade mark, as an important intellectual property and intangible asset, plays an increasingly vital role in protecting and encouraging innovation, strengthening corporate competitiveness and boosting economic developments". [20098]