CNIPA Issues Significant Draft Amendment to the PRC Trademark Law

The China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) circulated a draft amendment to the PRC Trademark Law (TML Draft Amendment) for public comment on January 13, 2023. The TML Draft Amendment is the product of deliberations that officially commenced in 2018 and resulted in the 2019 stopgap revisions to the Trademark Law that were primarily focused on addressing the issue of trademark hoarding. The current TML Draft Amendment was prepared by a CNIPA working group established in 2022 to consolidate prior survey and research efforts and prepare a first draft of proposed revisions. This first draft is a comprehensive and ambitious effort to update the law to address both new and longstanding issues, including the issues of bad faith filings and trademark use. Many industry groups and professional organizations—including the International Trademark Association (INTA) and the US-China Business Council (USCBC)—will be submitting comments on behalf of their members before the February 27 deadline for public comment. Read more