To invalidate a bad-faith registered trademark, the main lines of attack are Article 4 of the Trademark Law—"bad-faith trademark registration applications not intended for use"—and Article 44(1)—"registration obtained by fraudulent or other improper means". Both are absolute grounds not subject to the five-year time limit, and anyone may file.
Available Provisions and Applicable Scenarios
- Article 4: applies where the other party has applied for large numbers of trademarks, clearly exceeding business needs, stockpiling marks without intent to use—for example, a natural person holding hundreds of trademarks involving many others' well-known marks;
- Article 44(1): applies to registration by fraudulent means such as forged materials, or improper means that disrupt the registration order, such as mass-squatting others' trademarks, peddling trademarks, or systematically free-riding on famous enterprises;
- Relative grounds such as Articles 32 and 15: if you are the direct victim (your trademark was squatted), you may claim these as well, but mind the five-year limit.
Evidence Directions for Proving Bad Faith
- A list of trademarks registered in the other party's name: an abnormally large number involving the well-known marks of many different entities is key objective evidence of bad faith;
- Records of the other party peddling or assigning trademarks: listings of trademarks for sale on e-commerce platforms, mass emails offering marks for sale, and communications demanding high assignment fees;
- Records of the other party's contact with you: prior agency, cooperation, or negotiation records proving its knowledge of your trademark;
- Evidence that the other party lacks actual business capacity: no business scope, no trace of use, never used after registration;
- Evidence of your trademark's prior use and influence: sales, promotion, and award materials predating the filing date.
Procedural Points
- Prepare the Application for Invalidation of a Registered Trademark, stating the trademark at issue, the grounds (listing the statutory provisions), and the factual basis;
- Attach the evidence list and evidence—the objective evidence of bad faith should form a complete chain;
- Submit the request to the trademark review and adjudication authority and pay the fee;
- After the other party files its defense, the case enters examination; either party dissatisfied with the ruling may sue in court.
Practical Tips
Bad-faith findings require a "complete chain": for an isolated squatting act without other indicia of bad faith, the examining authority may prefer to handle it under relative grounds; where mass stockpiling, peddling records, and lack of intent to use are all present, the success rate on absolute grounds is markedly higher.
If you are facing the above issues, you may first handle an invalidation on MyTMBee to confirm feasibility before deciding whether to file, avoiding blind filings that waste official fees.