I have a Madrid international registered trademark and obtain the extension protection in China. Now someone has filed a cancellation application against the mark in China based on the ground of non-use for three consecutive years, to whom will the Chinese Trademark Office send the Notification of Submission of Proof of Use?
For international trademarks registered through the Madrid system, the China Trademark Office will deliver the paper notification to the representative of the mark by international airmail according to the name and address of the representative recorded on the website of the World Intellectual Property Organization, i.e., to the holder through the representative; if there is no representative, the notification will be delivered to the holder according to the name and address for correspondence of the holder, and if there is no name and address for correspondence, the notification will be delivered to the holder according to the name and address of the holder of the registration. The recipient in this case is called “the principal recipient”. In addition, in order to improve the likelihood of successful delivery and safeguard the interests of the trademark registrants, the China Trademark Office will check whether the trademark has other procedures handled by Chinese agencies, such as transfer, change, renewal, license, etc. If so, a copy of the paper notification can be sent to the corresponding Chinese agency, which is called “the copied recipient”. It should be noted that the calculation of the period related to the notification shall be calculated from the date of receipt by the principal recipient.
