• Document Number：No. 392 [2014] of the Higher People’s Court of Beijing Municipality
• Area of Law： Trademark Administrative Litigation
• Level of Authority： Local Judicial Documents
• Date issued：09-04-2014
• Effective Date：09-04-2014
• Status： Effective
• Issuing Authority： Higher People's Court of Beijing Municipality

Opinions of the Higher People's Court of Beijing Municipality on Standardizing the Causes of Action for Trademark Administrative Litigations
(No. 392 [2014] of the Higher People's Court of Beijing Municipality on September 4, 2014)
To implement the relevant provisions of the Trademark Law that came into force since May 1, 2014 (hereinafter referred to as the 2014 Trademark Law), the causes of action for an administrative case filed against a specific administrative action taken by the Trademark Appeal Board of the State Administration for Industry and Commerce (hereinafter referred to as the Trademark Appeal Board) or the Trademark Office of the State Administration for Industry and Commerce (hereinafter referred to as the Trademark Office) involving a trademark are hereby standardized as follows:
I. Causes of action for an administrative case filed against a specific administrative action taken by the Trademark Appeal Board or the Trademark Office
(1) Administrative dispute over review of rejection of a trademark application
The term “administrative dispute over review of rejection of a trademark application” refers to a complaint filed by a trademark registration applicant against a decision of the Trademark Appeal Board to reject (or partially reject) its trademark registration application if the trademark registration applicant refuses to accept a decision of the Trademark Office to reject its trademark registration application and applies to the Trademark Appeal Board for review.
(2) Administrative dispute over review of disapproval of trademark registration
The term “administrative dispute over review of disapproval of trademark registration” refers to a complaint filed by a trademark registration applicant against a decision of the Trademark Appeal Board to disapprove (or partially disapprove) registration of its trademark if the trademark registration applicant refuses to accept a decision of the Trademark Office to disapprove registration of its trademark for which an preliminary approval has been published and applies to the Trademark Appeal Board for review.
(3) Administrative dispute over review of objection to trademark
The term “administrative dispute over review of objection to trademark” refers to a complaint filed by a party against a ruling made by the Trademark Appeal Board to disapprove (or partially disapprove) registration of its trademark on May 1, 2014, if the party refuses to accept a ruling, as made by the Trademark Office before May 1, 2014 in accordance with the Trademark Law that came into force on December 1, 2001, on objection to its trademark for which an preliminary approval has been published, and applies to the Trademark Appeal Board for review.
(4) Administrative dispute over declaration of invalidation of the ownership of a trademark
The term “administrative dispute over declaration of invalidation of the ownership of a trademark” refers to a complaint filed by a trademark registrant against a decision of the Trademark Appeal Board to declare invalidation (partial invalidation) of its right to exclusively use a registered trademark if the trademark registrant refuses to accept a decision of the Trademark Office to declare invalidation of its right to exclusively use a registered trademark and applies to the Trademark Appeal Board for review.
(5) Administrative dispute over a petition for declaration of invalidation of the ownership of a trademark
The term “over a petition for declaration of invalidation of the ownership of a trademark” refers to a complaint filed by a party against a decision of the Trademark Appeal Board to sustain the right to exclusively use a trademark in dispute or declare invalidation (or partial invalidation) of the right to exclusively use a trademark in dispute.
(6) Administrative dispute over review of revocation of the ownership of a trademark
The term “administrative dispute over review of revocation of the ownership of a trademark” refers to a complaint filed by a party against a decision of the Trademark Appeal Board to revoke the review decision if the party refuses to accept a decision of the Trademark Office to revoke or not to revoke the right to exclusively use a registered trademark and applies to the Trademark Appeal Board for review.
(7) Other trademark administrative disputes
For those disputes other than above trademark administrative disputes, including but not limited to disputes over the decision or ruling of the Trademark Office, against which a complaint is filed, to approve or disapprove assignment of the right to exclusively use a registered trademark, “other trademark administrative disputes” may be used as the cause of action.
II. Model forms for causes of action for trademark administrative litigations as applied by the courts of first or second instance
(1) Causes of action as applied in the first instance
A first-instance judgment document shall indicate the cause of action stated in the first sentence after the basic information of the parties, such as “In a case of administrative dispute over review of disapproval of trademark registration (or any other cause of action), the plaintiff, XXX, filed a complaint with this court on (mm/dd/yyyy) against the No. XXXXX Review Decision on Disapproval of Trademark Registration (No. XXXXX [20XX], TAB) as made by the Trademark Appeal Board on (mm/dd/yyyy), ...”
(2) Causes of action as applied in the second instance
A second-instance judgment document shall indicate the cause of action stated in the first sentence after the basic information of the parties, such as “In a case of administrative dispute over petition for declaration of invalidation of the ownership of a trademark (or any other cause of action), the appellant, XXX, filed an appeal with this court on (mm/dd/yyyy) against the No. XXX administrative judgement as made by the No. 1 Intermediate People's Court of Beijing Municipality, ...”
III. Supplementary Provisions
In the trial of an administrative case filed by a party against a specific administrative action of the Trademark Appeal Board or the Trademark Office, to which the 2014 Trademark Law (or only the procedural provisions other than those regarding the right to sue and a party's standing in the 2014 Trademark Law) applies, the causes of action shall be determined in accordance with these Provisions. In the trial of an administrative case filed by a party against a specific administrative action of the Trademark Appeal Board or the Trademark Office, to which the 2001 Trademark Law applies, the causes of action shall be determined in accordance with the Provisions of the Higher People's Court of Beijing Municipality on Standardizing the Causes of Action in Patent and Trademark Administrative Litigations (No. 340 [2012], HPC, Beijing) issued by the Higher People's Court of Beijing Municipality on November 2, 2012.