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Trademark Office (TMO) (国家工商行政管理总局商标局)
Practical Law UK Glossary 4-522-2697 (Approx. 3 pages)
Glossary
Trademark Office (TMO) (国家工商行政管理总局商标局)
An former authority sitting under the then State Administration for Industry and Commerce, responsible for:
- Registering trade marks.
- Adjudicating oppositions and cancellations.
- Strengthening the recognition and protection of well-known trade marks.
- Registering, recording and protecting special signs and official signs.
- Researching, analysing and releasing trade mark registration information.
- Providing information on government decisions relating to trade marks.
- Implementing trade mark strategy.
- Maintaining the trade marks registry.
On 14 February 2019, the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) announced that the TMO, the Trademark Review and Adjudication Board (TRAB) and the Trademark Examination Cooperation Centre (TECC) would be reorganised as a new Trademark Office under the CNIPA (Announcement No. 295). After the merger, the new Trademark Office is responsible for all duties formerly performed by the TMO, TRAB and TECC under the name of the CNIPA from 1 April 2019.
The reorganisation of the CNIPA is an integral part of the ongoing restructuring under China's massive government institutional reform in 2018 (see Practice note, Understanding the 2018 government institutional reform: China: Restructuring IP regulator).