Opposition defense materials consist of two parts—the Trademark Opposition Defense Statement and supporting evidence—organized around rebutting the opponent's grounds item by item, and must be submitted within thirty days of receiving the defense notification.
Required Documents
- Trademark Opposition Defense Statement: state the opposed trademark and case number, respond to each opposition ground, and set out your own position;
- Proof of the applicant's qualification: a copy of the business license (for a company) or a copy of the ID card (for an individual);
- If handled through an agency, a trademark agency power of attorney must be submitted.
Materials Proving the Legitimate Origin of the Trademark
- An explanation of the trademark's design concept and creation process, such as design drafts and commissioned design contracts;
- An explanation of the origin of the trademark's words and graphics, proving that it is not a copy or imitation of another's mark.
Evidence of Prior Use or Legitimate Use
- Transaction records such as sales contracts, invoices, and shipping documents;
- Advertising contracts, screenshots of ad placements, exhibition materials, and brochures;
- Product packaging, manuals, and photos of physical stores;
- Sales records from e-commerce store backends and platform operation data.
Pay attention to the timing of the evidence: evidence proving your prior use should predate the key dates on which the opponent bases its rights. Third-party records such as invoices and contracts are more probative than self-produced promotional materials.
Counter-Arguments Against the Opponent's Evidence
Comment on each piece of evidence submitted by the opponent: authenticity (whether it is an original and verifiable), relevance (whether it relates to the goods at issue), date of formation (whether it postdates your filing date), and probative value (whether it is unilaterally self-produced).
Submission Tips
Bind the materials in the order of "defense statement + evidence list + evidence"; number the evidence pages and note the purpose of each item in the list. If filing through the CNIPA online trademark service system, upload clear scans as required.
If you are facing the above issues, you may first handle an opposition defense on MyTMBee to confirm feasibility before deciding whether to file, avoiding blind filings that waste official fees.