What Is the First Step After Receiving a Trademark Refusal Notice?

Question

Accepted Answer

The first step after receiving a refusal notice is to confirm the date of receipt and lock in the 15-day review deadline, then immediately analyze the nature of the refusal grounds and pull the files of the cited trademarks; never set the notice aside.

After receiving the Trademark Refusal Notice, the first step is to confirm the date of receipt and lock in the 15day review deadline, followed immediately by analyzing the refusal grounds and investigating the cited trademarks. The worst thing you can do is set the notice aside and ignore it.

Step 1: Lock In the Deadline

Record the issue date on the notice and the actual date of receipt, and calculate the review deadline (15 days from the date of receipt, extended if the last day falls on a public holiday);
 Set reminders in your phone calendar and team workflow, leaving at least a 3day buffer.

Step 2: Dissect the Refusal Grounds

Read the notice word by word and clarify three things:

1. Which statutory provision is cited — Article 10 (prohibited signs), Article 11 (distinctiveness), Article 4 (badfaith filing), or Article 30 (prior similar marks);
2. Which trademarks are cited — registration numbers, representations, and designated goods;
3. Whether the refusal is total or partial — in a partial refusal, the approved portion is unaffected.

Step 3: Investigate the Cited Trademarks

Use the China Trademark Office's online database to check each cited trademark's rights status, registration date, renewal status, and any records of nonuse cancellation or invalidation. This step determines the direction of your subsequent strategy.

Step 4: Make a Preliminary Decision Within 48 Hours

Engage a professional agent to assess the success rate of a review;
 Preliminarily decide the path: review, refiling, or a dualtrack approach;
 If a nonuse cancellation against the cited trademark is warranted, initiate it as early as possible (the cancellation timeline will overlap with the review).

Things You Must Never Do

Ignore the notice and miss the deadline — the right is extinguished outright;
 Rush into a review without analyzing the grounds — a wrong direction wastes the official fee;
 Refile the identical mark — it will most likely be refused again.

If you are un