Preliminary approval refers to the decision made by CNIPA, after substantive examination, that an applied-for trademark complies with the relevant provisions of the Trademark Law and is allowed to be published, which is then announced in the Trademark Gazette. Preliminary approval is not registration; its significance lies in initiating the 3-month opposition publication period—only upon expiry without opposition, or where an opposition is found unfounded, is the trademark approved for registration.
Legal Position
Article 28 of the Trademark Law provides that where an applied-for trademark, upon examination, complies with the relevant provisions of the Law, it shall be preliminarily approved and published. Article 33 provides that an opposition may be filed against a preliminarily approved and published trademark within three months from the date of publication. Preliminary approval is thus a statutory transitional state between "passing examination" and "approval of registration."
Contents of the Preliminary Approval Publication
The publication states: the application number, filing date, applicant name and address, trademark specimen, designated goods/service items and classes, and the gazette issue number. This information is the basis on which opponents file oppositions and applicants monitor the procedure.
Three Paths After Preliminary Approval
- No opposition: upon expiry of the publication period, registration is approved, the registration publication is issued, the registration certificate granted, and the exclusive trademark right arises (counted from the expiry of the 3-month preliminary approval publication period).
- Opposed but opposition unfounded: CNIPA decides to approve registration and issues the registration certificate; if the opponent disagrees, it may lawfully request invalidation of the registered trademark.
- Opposed and opposition upheld: CNIPA decides to refuse registration; if the applicant disagrees, it may apply for a review of the refusal of registration within 15 days of receiving the notice.
Status of Rights During Preliminary Approval
At this stage the trademark is not yet registered: the applicant has no exclusive trademark right, may not use "®", and cannot claim registered-trademark infringement against others' use. However, the preliminary approval publication has public-notice effect and is an important point in time for assessing another party's "bad faith"—if, after publication, another party continues to use an identical or similar sign on identical or similar goods, subjective bad faith is easier to establish.
Handling Partial Refusals
Where some goods items are refused and the rest preliminarily approved, the preliminary approval covers only the approved items. If the applicant seeks review of the refused portion, the approved portion proceeds to publication normally, without either delaying the other.
Points for Applicants
- Monitor the publication: confirm that the published information (specimen, goods items, applicant name) matches the application.
- Guard against opposition: watch for any notice of opposition response; the response deadline is 30 days from receipt of the notice.
- Materials preparation: wait until the registration publication before mass-deploying packaging and promotional materials bearing "®".
The application of related concepts in practice involves case-specific nuances; before proceeding, you can consult a CNIPA-recorded agent on MyTMBee for a tailored analysis.