The core of monitoring for similar squatting is watching each preliminary approval announcement of the CNIPA: once a new application similar to your trademark is found, filing an opposition within the three-month announcement period intercepts it. Manually flipping through announcements is extremely inefficient, so in practice automated trademark monitoring services are the norm.
Layers of Monitoring
- Announcement monitoring: run similarity comparisons by characters, graphics, pinyin, and pronunciation against each trademark announcement, covering your core classes and related classes—this is the main battlefield for intercepting squatting;
- Market monitoring: watch for the use of similar signs at trade fairs, franchise recruitment, and newly opened stores;
- E-commerce and online monitoring: patrol store names and product titles on platforms such as Taobao, Pinduoduo, and Douyin stores for similar uses, as well as similar domain names and official account names.
How to Monitor
- Define the watch list: core trademarks across all classes plus defensive trademarks plus main variants (Chinese, English, and graphics listed separately);
- Set similarity rules: thresholds respectively for character-form similarity, identical pronunciation, identical meaning, and similar graphic composition;
- Use automated monitoring tools or services to output suspected lists regularly, with manual review for confirmation;
- Build a disposition workflow: confirm similarity, assess the similarity of goods, and decide whether to file opposition, send a letter, or keep observing.
Interception Actions After Detection
For similar applications within the announcement period, file a trademark opposition under Article 33; for registered marks, invalidation may be filed within five years (no limit for malicious registration or well-known trademarks); for squatters' hoarded unused marks, a non-use cancellation may be filed after three years. The value of monitoring lies in eliminating problems within the three-month opposition window—at far lower cost than later invalidation or litigation.
When facing such situations, you are advised to consult a filed trademark agent on MyTMBee first to assess whether trademark monitoring should be arranged before deciding on the next step.