INTRODUCTION OF THE CASE：

Nie Yiqiang in the class of 35, "looking for sponsorship" service to apply for the No.47755304 trademark "中智E家” (Chinese character in pinyin Zhong Zhi E Jia) has been announced in the first review, China International Intellectech Group Co., Ltd. 中国国际技术智力合作集团有限公司 entrusted Beijing Janlea Trademark Agency Co., Ltd. within the time limit of the announcement to file an application for opposition to the opposed trademark.

Recently, in accordance with Article 13 of the Trademark Law, the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) did not register the trademark.

The China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) held that: 

The opposed trademark "中智E家and design" (Chinese character in pinyin Zhong Zhi E Jia) is intended for use in the Class 35 service "Seeking sponsorship". The opposer cites that the earlier registered trademark No. 1157805"中智" (Chinese characters in Pinyin is Zhong Zhi) in Class 35 "Business management support services; Business consulting; Business evaluation" and other services. There are certain differences in the contents, methods and objects of the designated services of the two trademarks, which do not belong to similar services, so that the trademarks of the two parties do not constitute similar trademarks used for similar services.

The trademark  "中智" (Chinese characters in Pinyin is Zhong Zhi), previously registered and used by the opposer for the services of "Personnel management support industry; Job placement; Personnel management consulting", had been granted protection under Article 13 of the Trademark Law. In this case, the opposed trademark contains the opposer's trademark in its entirety and does not have any other meaning that is clearly different from the opposer's, which constitutes a copy of the trademark, and the registered use of the opposed trademark is likely to mislead the public, resulting in the opposer's interests being potentially harmed. According to the provisions of Article 13(3) of the Trademark Law, it is decided that the trademark is not registered.

BRIEF COMMENTS OF THE CASE: 

This is a case in which Article 13(3) of the Trademark Law was applied to determine the protection of a well-known trademark.

In this case, the opposer, China International Intellectech Group Co., Ltd., is a central level enterprise directly managed by the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council, with human resources services as its core business. Founded in June 1987 and headquartered in Beijing, CIIC Group has gone through four stages of entrepreneurial start-up, national expansion, diversified development, and exploration of transformation and development. Up to now, CIIC Group has 315 domestic and overseas branches and service outlets in 388 cities across the country. 2022 CIIC Group is ranked 176th among China's top 500 enterprises and 65th among China's top 500 service enterprises, and has been leading China's human resource service industry for many years in a row. The trademark “中智” (Chinese characters in Pinyin is Zhong Zhi) has a high reputation and influence in China's "Personnel Management Support Industry; Personnel Management Consulting; Employment Agency" industry.

The opposed trademark "中智E家 and design" (Chinese character in pinyin Zhong Zhi E Jia)is a combination of words and design, used in the service of "Seeking sponsorship" in the group of 3508, whereas the opposer's "中智" is a pure Chinese character trademark used in the service of "Industrial And Commercial Management Support Industry; Business Consulting; Business Valuation", which is not a similar service, but in view of the well-known of the trademark "中智" in the service of "Industrial And Commercial Management Support Industry; Business Consulting; Business Valuation", the registration and use of the opposed trademark will lead to confusion and misunderstanding of the consumers. Therefore, in accordance with the provisions of Article 13- 3 of the Trademark Law, the CNIPA decides that the trademark shall not be registered.

THE CASE’S SIGNIFICANCE: 

In the case of the registration of a trademark by another person which contains the customer's well-known trademark, the customer should actively collect evidence of the popularity of the trademark and file an opposition application in time. This case also reveals that “中智”trademark rights need to be fought for by a number of rights protection actions in order to consolidate and protect the legitimate rights and interests of the trademark right holder.