On July 01, 2021, Beijing Shennapusi Artificial Intelligence Technology Co., LTD. (hereinafter referred to as the "Applicant") entrusted CENFO to apply for "" in class 42 (hereinafter referred to as the "appl. Trademark"). Then the CNIPA issued a notice of rejection of the application for trademark registration on October 03, 2021.

The applicant entrusted CENFO to response the official action within the statutory period. We stated in the statement of reasons that the cited trademark " (registration number: 17971294)" has been proposed by the applicant to revoke the application for not using the registered trademark for three consecutive years and the current status is unstable. If the cited trademark eventually lapses. It will no longer constitute a prior similarity obstacle to the appl. trademark. Therefore, we request CNIPA to suspend the examination of this case and wait for the final status of the cited trademark to be confirmed before reviewing our trademark

After examination, the CNIPA concluded that the trademark No. 17971294 "" cited in the official action had been revoked for no-using in three consecutive years, therefore, the trademark does not constitute an obstacle to the cited trademark’s rights of the application for preliminary approval. In accordance with the provisions of Article 28 of the Trademark Law of the People's Republic of China, the application for registration of the trademark on the service under review shall be preliminary determined and approved.

Comments of CENFO

The former CNIPA boarded in the former Trademark Review and Adjudication Board official website (now the China Intellectual Property Office Trademark Office review business website) on April 24, 2018 on the "new trends in the work of the Commercial Evaluation and Adjudication Board case hearing" provides that the current practice of the rejection of the review is suspended: the first, the cited trademark has not been approved , in the registration review, rejection review or opposition proceedings, suspended; The second, the cited trademark has been approved for registration, in the invalidation, cancellation (including review) and other procedures, if the initial time is earlier than the application date of the trademark, taking into account the active exercise of the rights of trademark applicants, suspended; the third, the cited trademark in the process of change to renewal, suspended. Of course, the above three suspension circumstances also need to be considered by the examiner, for example, in the case of multiple cited trademarks, if the examiner believes that one or several cited trademarks involved in the outcome of the case has no substantive impact on the case and it will not be suspended.

By the time the case was reviewed, the cited trademark " (Registration No. 17971294)" had been revoked due to the cessation of use for three consecutive years, therefore, the trademark no longer constituted an obstacle to the prior trademark rights for which the application was approved for preliminary examination. The application for the trademark registration is in full compliance with the legislative intent and relevant provisions of the Trademark Law and the Implementing Regulations of the Trademark Law, and should be approved for registration.

Source: Website of CENFO