On March 24, 2020, CNIPA published draft Measures for the Protection of Official Signs (“the Measures”) for solicitation of comments. The deadline to submit comments is April 23, 2020.

The Measures defines the scope of official signs, that is, the signs mentioned in Article 10, paragraph 1 (1) to (4), of the Chinese trademark law, such as the names of countries, international intergovernmental organizations, etc.

For domestic official signs, if the relevant department of the State Council and other departments or organizations (“the departments”) uses official signs which need to be protected in accordance with the Chinese trademark law, they can apply with the CNIPA to record these official signs, except for the official signs clearly stipulated by laws and administrative regulations. The CNIPA shall, within 15 days from the date of receiving the application documents, notify the relevant department in writing about the examination result. If the application is approved, the same should be published. Where the relevant departments consider that their official signs need to be protected internationally, the CNIPA shall notify WIPO accordingly.

The CNIPA deals with the protection matters of official signs internationally in accordance with the relevant international agreements to which China is a party.

For official signs of foreign governments or international organizations that need to be protected in China, as notified by WIPO, if they are in conformity with the provisions of the Measures, the CNIPA shall publish the same within 12 months from the date of receiving the notice; otherwise, the CNIPA shall raise objections to the relevant foreign governments or international organizations through WIPO within 12 months from the date of receiving the notice.

Where a trademark applied for registration violates the provisions of Article 10 of the trademark law and is identical with or similar to the official signs, the CNIPA may reject the application. Opposition and invalidation can also be filed against trademark applications or registrations, on the basis of the official signs.

Where anyone, without the authorization or consent of the relevant departments, uses an unregistered trademark the same as or similar to official signs, which violates the provisions of Article 10 of the Chinese trademark law, if illegal business revenue is more than RMB50,000, a fine of no more than 20% of the illegal business revenue may be imposed; if the illegal business revenue is less than RMB50,000, a fine of up to RMB10,000 may be imposed.