According to State Administration of Industry and Commerce (SAIC), China’s registered trademark hit 11.22 million as of the end of this June, amounting to one third of the global registered trademarks. China trademark application in the first half of the year has reached over 1.74 million; it’s estimated to be over 3.5 million by the end of the year. Since 2002, China trademark application has topped the global volume for 14 consecutive years. The conflict between the dramatic volume surge and the underpowered examination body is becoming increasingly acute, which calls for the inevitable reform to improve trademark registration channel and service channel. The official opinions released recently mentioned some measures of reform, including setting up regional offices to accept trademark applications, speeding up the issuance of trademark application filing receipt from 6 months to 3 months, as well as gradually shifting from paper filing to e-filing.
(Source: Economic Daily)