SAIC: trademark examination period to be shortened to 10 months in 2012

According to the plan on trademark work to reach international level released by State Administration for Industry and Commerce (SAIC) on November 30 that, the examination period of trademark registration in China should be controlled in 10 months in 2012, and trademark opposition judgment and cognizance period of assessment should be in 20 months. This means the examination period of trademark registration in China will be further shortened, thus to provide more convenience for enterprises' development.
　
In recent years, China's trademark applications amount was increased by 100,000 pieces per year; however, the comparative low ability on trademark examination resulted in long periods of trademark examinations and huge backlog of applications for a time, and attracted society's attentions.

It is introduced by related principal of SAIC that, since 2008, series of measures were adopted to enhance trademark examination ability, the examination period has been shortened to 1 year from 3 years, and it will be shortened to no more than 1 year in the next year. The released plan puts forward that the examination period of trademark registration should be controlled in 10 months in 2012 and it will provide more convenience for enterprises' development.

Moreover, the principal expressed that they will pay attention to both amount and quality of trademark examinations.

According to the statistic data from SAIC that, China's trademark applications amount hits an all-time high and is estimated to reach 800,000 pieces this year; meanwhile, the examination amount of trademark applications has hit 1,000,000 pieces and it is planned to reach 1,300,000 pieces in the end of this year. [Chinese version is available on SIPO.gov.cn]