No Physical Trademark Registration Certificate will be Issued by China National Intellectual Property Administration after January 1, 2022

Written by:Yang Fan (Intellectual Property)

On October 12, 2021, China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) issued the Announcement on Adjusting the Method of Issuing Trademark Registration Certificates (No. 453). Physical trademark registration certificates will no longer be issued by China National Intellectual Property Administration from January 1, 2022 [1].

According to the Announcement, during the transitional period from October 15, 2021 to December 31, 2021, electronic copies are available for registrants of certificates generated by publication of registration and other trademark applications, and the CNIPA continues to issue paper trademark registration certificates at the same time, while the method of issuing certificates for trademark registration submitted electronically remains unchanged during the period. From January 1, 2022, regardless of whether a trademark application is submitted in paper or electronic form, an electronic trademark registration certificate will be issued with no paper  form issued by the CNIPA.

1.Types of certificates involved

According to the Announcement, this adjustment of issuance method is limited to the “Trademark Registration Certificate”, and other types are not involved for the time being.

For any applications for modification or assignment, or applications for certification of international registration, that are submitted in paper, the certificates are still issued in paper form; for the above mentioned applications submitted online, the certificates are issued in electronic form.

2.Timeline of the adjustment of method of issuing trademark registration certificates

3.Re-issuance of certificate in case of losing the paper trademark registration certificate

According to the Announcement, after the adjustment of issuance method, the form of trademark registration certificate depends on the “time point of the generation of trademark registration certificate”, rather than the date of trademark application. In case of applying to the CNIPA for re-issuance of a lost paper trademark registration certificate, if the reissue date of the trademark registration certificate is after January 1, 2022, the CNIPA will issue an electronic certificate instead of the paper certificate.

[1] Announcement on Adjusting the Method of Issuing Trademark Registration Certificates (No. 453) https://www.cnipa.gov.cn/art/2021/10/12/art_74_170694.html