The statutory time limit for applying for a refusal review is within 15 days of receiving the Trademark Refusal Notice, pursuant to Article 34 of the Trademark Law. This is a statutory invariable period that in practice essentially cannot be extended; a review application filed late will not be accepted, and the original refusal decision takes effect.
How the Time Limit Is Computed
- The date of receipt is calculated from the issue date stated on the notice in accordance with the service rules. For electronic service, the service date recorded in the system prevails; for paper mail, service is generally presumed a certain time after issuance.
- If the last day of the period falls on a public holiday, it is extended to the first working day after the holiday.
What to Do Within the 15 Days
Fifteen days is very tight; the following schedule is recommended:
- Days 1–3: upon receiving the refusal notice, immediately pull the files of the cited trademarks and analyze the nature of the refusal grounds (absolute or relative grounds).
- Days 3–7: conduct a review success-rate assessment, set the review strategy, and decide whether to collect use evidence in parallel or take peripheral actions against the cited trademark, such as non-use cancellation or opposition.
- Days 7–13: draft the review statement of grounds, organize the evidence, file the review application, and pay the fee, leaving buffer time.
What If You Miss the Deadline?
If the 15-day deadline is indeed missed, the door to the review procedure closes, leaving only two paths:
- After assessment, file a new application (taking care to circumvent the original refusal grounds);
- If the original trademark is extremely valuable, consider resolving the citation obstacle through assignment, a coexistence agreement, or similar means, and then refile.
Therefore, action should begin the very day the refusal notice is received — do not push the decision to the final days.
Note: the time-limit figures in this article are updated as of 2026; actual durations are affected by examination progress, and official statements of the Trademark Office shall prevail.
If you are facing the issues above, you can first run a refusal review assessment on MyTMBee to confirm feasibility before deciding whether to file, avoiding wasted official fees from blind filings.