NEWS

Announcement from the State Intellectual Property Office

No. 507

In order to ensure that trademark agencies and practitioners practice in accordance with the law, strengthen the supervision of trademark agencies and practitioners, and standardize the order of the trademark agency industry, in accordance with the relevant provisions of the "Regulations on the Implementation of the Trademark Law of the People's Republic of China" and in accordance with the "Regulations on the Supervision and Administration of Trademark Agencies" (National Market According to the relevant requirements of the General Administration of Supervision and Administration Order No. 63), the State Intellectual Property Office will organize trademark agencies that have been registered before November 30, 2022 (inclusive) to re-register. The relevant matters are hereby announced as follows:

Ⅰ. Institutions that have re-registered

Trademark agencies that have completed registration with the Trademark Office of the State Intellectual Property Office before November 30, 2022 (inclusive) include service agencies that have been registered with the Trademark Office of the State Intellectual Property Office and are registered by the market entity registration authority to engage in trademark agency business in accordance with the law. A law firm engaged in trademark agency business.

Ⅱ. Time for re-filing

The institution that re-registers should submit a re-filing application between January 1, 2023 and February 28, 2023, and the State Intellectual Property Office will complete the re-filing before March 31, 2023; for those that meet the requirements, the State Intellectual Property Office will promptly It shall be filed, relevant agencies notified and publicly released.

Ⅲ. Procedures for re-filing

Re-filing is done online, through the "China Trademark Network > Trademark Online Application" column, after logging in to the agency as an online application user, click on the "Agency Application Business - Re-filing" module on the left to process it online. Agencies that have been registered with the Trademark Office of the State Intellectual Property Office but have not registered trademark online users can apply to become online application users through "China Trademark Network>Trademark Online Application>Register Now". After being reviewed and approved by the Trademark Office of the State Intellectual Property Office , the logged-in user performs agency re-registration.

Ⅳ. Relevant information for re-filing

(1) Sign the trademark agency business notification and commitment letter

Institutions applying for re-filing should read and sign the Trademark Agency Practice Notification and Commitment Letter.

(2) About the organization: Supplementary information about the organization and submit relevant materials

When applying for re-filing, the trademark agency will check the original information that has been filed and add the following content after the modification or change is accurate:

1. Copies of business license and law firm practice license. The business scope in the business license should include "trademark agency", "trademark agency services", "intellectual property agency" or "intellectual property agency services".

2. In addition to filling in the above information, a branch of a trademark agency must also fill in the name and unified social credit code of the upper-level trademark agency that established the agency.

3. Those who have not engaged in trademark agency business from January 1, 2020 to December 31, 2022 should submit an explanation, which should include the legitimate reasons for not engaging in trademark agency business, and the conditions for continuing to engage in trademark agency business, and the content of the explanation It should be true and detailed.

(3) About personnel: Re-fill in the relevant information of employees and submit relevant materials

1. Names and ID numbers of the person in charge of the trademark agency (service agencies should fill in the legal representative, and law firms should fill in the main person in charge), shareholders, partners of unlisted companies and other trademark agency practitioners.

2. In addition to the above information, the person in charge of the trademark agency, shareholders and partners of unlisted companies with management responsibilities, and trademark agency practitioners must also fill in the information including: contact information, gender, education, major, and years of experience , employment history, you can fill in the relevant intellectual property awards (issued by government departments), professional training experience, and trademark agency business ability certificates. Those who have relevant awards, training experience, and business ability certificates should submit supporting materials.

Ⅴ. Relevant requirements for re-filing

The filled-in content should be true, complete and accurate. The trademark agency that re-registers is responsible for all the filled-in content and submitted materials. If the filled-in content is found to be untrue or fraudulent, the State Intellectual Property Office will mark it in the trademark online service system and trademark agency system, and will no longer accept the application. Submitted trademark agency business applications (excluding trademark agency business that has been completed but not yet completed).

Ⅵ. Situations in which re-filing is not allowed

(1) The registration has been cancelled, the business license and law firm practice license have been revoked or revoked, and the State Intellectual Property Office has decided to permanently stop accepting trademark agency business;

(2) Those who have been included in the list of serious illegal and untrustworthy persons, the list of abnormal business operations, etc. and have a bad credit record and their credit has not been repaired;

(3) The person in charge of a trademark agency, shareholders and partners of unlisted companies with management responsibilities, and trademark agency practitioners shall not engage in trademark agency business in more than two trademark agencies at the same time. The trademark agency applying for re-filing belongs to the same employee as the employee of the agency that has previously submitted the application for re-filing;

(4) Among the personnel who have been engaged in trademark registration and management in the State Intellectual Property Office, the Trademark Office or the Trademark Examination Cooperation Agency, there are those who have resigned from public office or retired for less than three years, or those who have retired for less than two years, or others who have resigned for less than two years. personnel.

Ⅶ. Precautions

(1) Starting from December 1, 2022, trademark agencies applying for new filings should handle filing matters in accordance with the relevant requirements of the "Trademark Agency Supervision and Administration Regulations". The "situations in which re-filing is not allowed" in this announcement apply to those applying for new filings. Trademark agency, for details, please refer to "China Trademark Network>Trademark Agency>Trademark Agency Filing Instructions".

(2) For trademark agencies that have not completed re-filing within the prescribed time limit, the State Intellectual Property Office will mark it in the trademark online service system and trademark agency system, and will no longer accept their trademark agency business applications (excluding processing Complete unfinished trademark agency business). If a trademark agency that has not been re-registered intends to continue to engage in trademark agency business, it will be treated as a newly registered agency.

(3) The validity period of re-filing is three years, starting from the date when the notification of approval of re-filing is issued. If you need to continue to engage in trademark agency business after the validity period expires, the trademark agency can handle the renewal registration within six months before the expiration of the validity period. For details, please see "China Trademark Network > Trademark Agency > Trademark Agency Registration Instructions".

(4) The information of registered trademark agency practitioners will be associated with the trademark agency business, that is, registered trademark agency practitioners can submit trademark agency business, sign and bear legal responsibility, while unregistered trademark agency practitioners cannot submit trademark agency business.

(5) If a trademark agency applies for deregistration as a market entity, fails to apply for renewal of the registration upon expiration of the registration validity period, or decides on its own to no longer engage in trademark agency business, its business license or law firm practice license is revoked or revoked, or the national intellectual property rights If the State Intellectual Property Office decides to permanently stop accepting its trademark agency business, it shall handle the unfinished trademark agency business properly and then apply for cancellation registration with the State Intellectual Property Office.

(6) There are no fees for trademark agency registration and re-filing.

  Special announcement.

State Intellectual Property Office

December 1, 2022

Answers to questions related to the "Announcement on the Re-filing of Trademark Agencies"

Question 1

What is the purpose and significance of organizational re-filing?

Answer: In recent years, my country's trademark agencies have developed rapidly, providing important support and playing an important role in the creation, application and protection of intellectual property rights. At present, while the trademark agency industry is developing rapidly, some irregular business behaviors have occurred.

Carrying out re-filing is not only necessary to implement the relevant requirements of the State Administration for Market Regulation's "Provisions on the Supervision and Administration of Trademark Agency" (Order No. 63), but also an effective means to regulate the order of the trademark agency industry and promote the healthy development of the trademark agency industry. The "Regulations on the Supervision and Administration of Trademark Agents" officially implemented on December 1st clarified the three-year validity period of registration, and also put forward new requirements for the registration work. It is necessary to re-register trademark agencies in accordance with the new regulations and new requirements. Through re-filing, the information of trademark agencies and employees can be updated and disclosed, and trademark agencies that do not meet the new requirements, such as the registration entity has disappeared but has not been cancelled, or the information is inaccurate and incomplete, can be adjusted and updated to promote the honest operation of trademark agencies. , abide by the law, improve service quality and efficiency, and provide information support to facilitate trademark registration applicants to choose agencies, strengthen trademark agency supervision and guide the healthy development of the industry.

Question 2

How to arrange the time for re-filing? What should I do if I fail to submit the application within the specified time due to special reasons?

Answer: Institutions that need to re-register should submit their application for re-filing between January 1, 2023 and February 28, 2023. In case of special circumstances, the reasons can be explained and the application submission will be postponed until March 31, 2023.

Question 3

Are there any fees for re-filing?

Answer: There are no fees for trademark agency registration and re-filing.

Question 4

What is the purpose of submitting relevant business capability certificates when re-filing? If there is no or no relevant business capability certificate submitted, will it be rejected?

Answer: According to the "Regulations on the Supervision and Administration of Trademark Agency", trademark agency practitioners should be familiar with trademark laws and regulations and have the ability to engage in trademark agency business in accordance with the law. The filing requires practitioners to provide relevant business capability certificates. The purpose is to collect statistics on the acquisition of relevant business capability certificates by trademark agency practitioners, so as to formulate more targeted policies, measures and plans to improve service capabilities and promote the high-quality development of the trademark agency industry. , and at the same time encourage and support trademark agency practitioners to continuously strengthen business learning and improve trademark agency capabilities and levels. Legal qualification certificates, intellectual property specialist (junior, intermediate, senior) titles and other intellectual property-related certificates are important carriers that reflect the professional quality and abilities of trademark agency practitioners, but they are not necessary conditions for trademark agency registration and are not mandatory for trademark agencies. Practitioners must have relevant business competency certificates.

Question 5

What are the main bases and reasons for not re-filing?

Answer: The "Announcement on Re-filing of Trademark Agencies" lists four situations in which re-filing is not allowed. The refusal to register under the four circumstances is not only to implement the requirements of the newly implemented "Trademark Agency Supervision and Management Regulations", but also to further implement the "Trademark Law", "Trademark Law Implementation Regulations", "Market Supervision and Management Measures for the Management of Serious Illegal and Untrustworthy Lists" and The needs stipulated by relevant national laws. If a market player dies, is permanently stopped from accepting trademark agency business, has a bad credit record and has not yet repaired its credit, it will not be re-filed. This is to ensure that the registered trademark agency has a good operating and credit status and better protects the client. legitimate rights and interests. Trademark agency practitioners are not allowed to engage in trademark agency business in more than two trademark agencies at the same time, and are not allowed to hire anyone who has been engaged in trademark registration and management at the State Intellectual Property Office, the Trademark Office or the Trademark Examination Cooperation Agency within the period of ban. Personnel is necessary to avoid conflicts of interest and damage to the legitimate rights and interests of clients. It is also necessary to maintain market order and implement relevant regulations on building a clean government in accordance with the law.

Question 6

What should I do if my re-registration fails?

Answer: During the re-filing process, if a trademark agency fails to fill in the information as required or is not allowed to re-register, it will not be able to pass the re-filing. If this happens, the trademark agency should make rectifications immediately and apply for re-filing after meeting the conditions for re-filing. If the rectification cannot be completed in time within the re-filing period, you can log in to the trademark online service system to submit an online filing application after the re-filing is completed, and submit an explanation. After review, the State Intellectual Property Office will make a timely decision whether to agree to the filing.

Question 7

The re-filing requires that the business scope should include "trademark agency", "trademark agency services", "intellectual property agency" or "intellectual property agency services". What is the purpose and basis of this requirement?

Answer: According to Article 84 of the "Regulations for the Implementation of the Trademark Law", trademark agencies are service agencies and law firms engaged in trademark agency business. According to the provisions of the Company Law, market entities shall engage in market activities within the approved and registered business scope in accordance with the law. In order to ensure the legality of trademark agency business, it needs to be connected with the relevant provisions of the Company Law on business scope. Therefore, this re-filing requires that the business scope of a trademark agency registered by the market entity registration authority in accordance with the law includes "trademark agency", "trademark agency services", "intellectual property agency" or "intellectual property agency services", reflecting the trademark agency's business scope. Professionalism to ensure standardized practice. For non-compliance, the application can be processed again after changing or increasing the corresponding business scope. There is no requirement for a law firm.

Question 8

How to distinguish whether a shareholder or partner is responsible for management?

Answer: Shareholders and partners with management responsibilities refer to shareholders and partners in a trademark agency who are directly responsible for or involved in the trademark agency business. These shareholders and partners manage as trademark agency practitioners and submit their signatures for agency business. Responsible. Other shareholders and partners who do not have management responsibilities are not managed as trademark agency practitioners, but they cannot sign to submit trademark agency business.

Question 9

What should I do if the original filing information retained by the institution has changed?

Answer: During this re-filing, if the name of the filing agency, unified social credit code and address in the original filing information are found to have changed, the changes should be completed in accordance with the requirements of "China Trademark Network > Trademark Agency > Instructions for Registration of Trademark Agency" After filing, apply for re-filing. If it is found that other matters such as the business license and list of employees in the original filing information have changed, they can be modified during the re-filing process.

Question 10

How do I know if my re-filing has been approved?

Answer: When applying for re-filing, the declaration system will compare the filled in information with the database. If there is any discrepancy with the requirements, it will prompt you in time. After the re-filing application is approved, the trademark agency that re-registered will be notified by email first, and finally the relevant filing status will be released in an appropriate manner.

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