After two years of waiting, champagne corks may be popping in the office of one of your clients as early as today, Monday. The China Trademark Office has just issued an order to register his trademark for protection in Class 35.
This would not be surprising except for the fact that the client’s word and figurative mark had previously been applied for and registered by a third party. In the course of the proceedings, we were able to prove that the registration had been made in bad faith, which led to its cancellation. However, at a later stage in our application for trademark protection, we received a refusal from the China Trademark Office (CNIPA). CNIPA cited the similarity of the client’s mark to other previously registered marks as a reason for refusal.
However, the opposition was apparently persuasive, as evidenced by the decision to register the mark in Class 35.
