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06 March 2013
China’s Trademark Office has issued a notice to adopt amendments to the 10th edition of the Nice Classification of Goods and Services. The amendments, which widen Class 35 services, went into effect on January 1, 2013.
The Office now processes applications under the seven items of services that fall into the new subgroup 3509 in Class 35. The seven items of services include retail or wholesale services of pharmaceutical, veterinary and sanitary preparations, and medical supplies; retail or wholesale services of medicine; retail or wholesale services of pharmaceutical preparations; retail or wholesale services of sanitary preparations; retail or wholesale services of medical supplies; retail or wholesale services of veterinary medicine; and retail or wholesale services of veterinary preparations.
The services intend to group the above goods to allow customers to make purchases conveniently, said Isabella Liu, a partner at Baker & McKenzie in Hong Kong, writing in a Client Alert. Such services can be provided by physical retail and wholesale outlets, or virtual online shops. The trademark office will not consider any descriptions other than the aforementioned ones.
For submitting applications covering the new services, the trademark office used January 1 to 31, 2013, as a transition period. During the transition period, applications filed by different applicants for similar or the same trademarks covering conflicting services will be deemed to have been made on the same date, said Christopher Smith, a Baker & McKenzie partner. “The issue of priority will be first determined by the date of first use in China. Where there is no use by any of the applicants, priority will be determined through negotiation between the applicants, failing which it will be determined by way of ballot,” he wrote.
