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	ADMINISTRATIVE MEASURES OF THE REGISTRATION OF COLLECTIVE TRADEMARKS AND CERTIFICATION MARKS

	(Order of the State Administration for Industry and Commerce of the People's Republic of China (No.6 [ 2003]), April 17, 2003: The Administrative Measures Concerning the Registration of Collective Trade Marks and Certification Marks has been adopted at the executive meeting of the State Administration for Industry and Commerce of the People's Republic of China. It is hereby promulgated, and shall be implemented as of June 1, 2003)


SUBJECT : TRADEMARK; COLLECTIVE MARKS; REGISTRATION
ISSUING DEPARTMENT : STATE ADMINISTRATION FOR INDUSTRY AND COMMERCE OF THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA
ISSUE DATE : 04/17/2003
IMPLEMENT DATE : 06/01/2003
LENGTH : 1,475 words
TEXT :

Article 1. The Present Measures are formulated in accordance with Article 3 of the Trademark Law of the People's Republic of China (hereinafter referred to the Trademark Law).

Article 2. The administration and registration of collective marks and certification marks shall be executed in accordance with the relevant requirements provided in the Trademark Law and the Implementing Rules of the Trademark Law of the People's Republic of China (hereinafter referred to the Implementing Rules).

Article 3. The provisions of the Present Measures relating to commodity trademarks shall be applicable to the service trademarks.

Article 4. Where an applicant files an application to register a collective trademark, it shall enclose the evidential documents of the qualified subject and shall specify the name and address of the collective organization. Where an applicant files an application to register a geographical mark as the collective trademark, it shall submit the evidential documents of the qualified subject and shall specify the specialized technical personnel and the testing equipments that it has, or its entrusted institution has, in order to show that it is capable of supervising the special quality of the commodities with this geographical mark.

The members of a group, association or other organization, which files an application to register a geographical mark as the collective trademark, shall come from and within the region indicated by the geographical mark.

Article 5. Where an applicant files an application to register a trademark, it shall enclose evidential documents about the qualified subject and shall make clear the specialized technical personnel and the testing equipments that it has, or its entrusted institution has, in order to show that it is capable of supervising the special quality of the commodities with this trademark.

Article 6. Where an applicant files an application to register a geographical mark as a collective mark or certification mark, it shall submit the approval documents issued by the local people's government or the relevant local administrative organ of the region indicated by the geographical mark.

Where a foreign citizen or a foreign enterprise files an application to register a geographical mark as a collective mark or certification mark, it shall offer a certification to prove that the geographical mark in the name of the applicant is under the protection of law of the original country.

Article 7. The following elements shall be included in an application to register a geographical mark as a collective mark or certification mark:

(1) the special quality, credit, or other features of the commodities indicated by the geographical mark;

(2) the relationship between the special quality, credit, or other features of the commodities and the natural factors, the cultural factors of the region indicated by the geographical mark; and

(3) the boundaries of the region indicated by the geographical mark.

Article 8. The geographical mark mentioned in the application to register as a collective mark or a certification mark may be the name of the region indicated by the geographical mark, or other visible marks that indicate the origin of a kind of commodity.

The region mentioned in the preceding paragraph is not required to be completely identical with the name and boundaries of present administrative division.

Article 9. If several geographic marks of wine contain word(s) of the same sound or sight, if they can be distinguished from each other, and if they aren't likely to mislead the public, each of them may be used as a collective mark or certification mark in applying for the registration.

Article 10. The administrative measures concerning the use of a collective mark shall include the following:

(1) the purpose of using a collective mark;

(2) the quality of the commodity using this collective mark;

(3) procedures for using this collective mark;

(4) the rights and obligations of using this collective mark;

(5) the liabilities that shall be undertaken by any member in violation of the administrative measures concerning the use of the collective mark; and

(6) the registrant's testing and supervisory rules concerning the use of the collective mark.

Article 11. The administrative measures concerning the use of a certification mark shall include the following:

(1) the purpose of using a certification mark;

(2) the quality of the commodity using this certification mark;

(3) requirements for using this certification mark;

(4) procedures of using this certification mark;

(5) the rights and obligations of using the certification mark;

(6) the liabilities that shall be undertaken by any member in violation of the administrative measures concerning the use of the certification mark; and

(7) the registrant's testing and supervisory rules concerning the use of the certification mark.

Article 12. Article 16 of the Trademark Law shall be applicable to the circumstance of using a geographical mark in the ownership of other registrant as the collective mark or certification mark of wine, or ardent spirits, of which the place of origin is not the region indicated by the geographic mark, even if the actual place of origin is indicated, or it uses translated words, or it is accompanied by words of "kind", "type", "pattern", or "category" and other descriptions.

Article 13. The public announcement about a collective mark or certification mark upon preliminary examination and approval shall include the full text or abstract of the administrative rules for the use of that mark.

Where the registrant of a collective mark or certification mark is to modify the administrative rules for the use of that mark, it shall report to the trademark bureau for ratification. And the modification shall take effect as of the day of public announcement.

Article 14. Where the registrant of a collective mark intends to make a change in its members, it shall apply to the trademark bureau for modifying the registration. The modification shall be publicly announced by the trademark bureau.

Article 15. Where a certification mark is permitted to be used by others, the registrant shall report to the trademark bureau within one year for archival purposes, and shall be publicly announced by the trademark bureau.

Article 16. When applying for transferring a collective mark or certification mark, the transferee shall have relevant qualifications of a subject and shall satisfy the requirements provided in the Trademark Law, the Implementing Rules and the Present Measures.

Where a collective mark or certification mark is transferred, the transferee of the rights shall have relevant qualifications of a subject and shall satisfy the requirements provided in the Trademark Law, the Implementing Rules and the Present Measures.

Article 17. The members of the registrant of a collective mark may use that mark after having handled the procedures provided in the administrative rules concerning the use of the collective mark.

A collective mark shall not be used by any nonmembers of the registrant.

Article 18. Those who satisfy the requirements provided in the administrative rules concerning the use of the certification mark may use that mark after having handled the procedures required in the administrative rules concerning the use of the certification mark. The registrant shall not refuse to handle the relevant procedures.

"Reasonable use of the geographic mark" mentioned in Article 6 (2) of the Implementing Rules refers to reasonable use of the toponym of the geographic mark.

Article 19. The registrant of a collective mark shall issue to the users a Collective Mark's Use Permit. The registrant of a certification mark shall issue to the users a Certification Mark's Use Permit.

Article 20. The registrant of a certification mark shall not use that mark on the commodities provided by itself.

Article 21. Where the registrant of a collective mark or certification mark fails to make an effective management or control of the use of that mark so that the commodities using that mark were not up to the requirements provided in the administrative rules, and caused damages to the consumers, the administrative departments of industry and commerce shall order it to get right within a time limit. If it refuses to get right, a fine of not more than 3 times of the illegal gains, but not more than RMB 30,000 yuan shall be imposed. If there is no illegal gains, a fine of not more than 10,000 yuan shall be imposed.

Article 22. Any violation of Article 6 of the Implementing Rules, Articles 14 through 18, and Article 20 of the present Measures shall be ordered to correct by the administrative departments of industry and commerce. If it refuses to get right, a fine of not more than 3 times of the illegal gains, but not more than RMB 30,000 yuan shall be imposed. If there is no illegal gains, a fine of not more than 10,000 yuan shall be imposed.

Article 23. The Present Measures shall be implemented as of June 1, 2003. The Registration of Collective Marks or Certification Marks, and Administrative Measures promulgated by the State Administration of Industry and Commerce shall abolished concurrently.