After a Refusal: Clear the Blocking Mark
“米羊数智” was refused on the first filing. What blocked it was a prior trademark registered back in 2015—and long unused. This lesson walks the full chain from refusal through three-year non-use cancellation to review of refusal. We ran this path ourselves.
In April 2023, two Notices of Refusal of Trademark Registration arrived the same day—both citing similarity to a prior registered mark. The form is fixed: who blocked you (cited mark’s registration number and name), which article, and how many days you have left to respond.
First · Same name plus a suffix
A prior mark registered in Class 35 since 2015—“米羊” plus one more character—was held similar to “米羊数智” on similar services. It filed earlier; you can’t dodge that gate.
Second · Two characters flipped
The blocker was a prior mark that wrote “米羊” in reverse—even reversed character order counts as similar. Many namers miss this: you think a reorder clears it; the examiner doesn’t.
Where a trademark applied for registration does not comply with this Law, or is identical with or similar to another’s registered trademark or a trademark that has been preliminarily approved on the same or similar goods, the Trademark Office shall refuse the application and shall not publish it.
The same notice ends with a critical line: if you disagree, you may apply for review within fifteen days of receiving the notice (then Article 34). Fifteen days is hard—miss it and you can only refile. So the first thing after a refusal is the date. Copy can wait.
The Notice of Refusal gives you only a registration number. Pull the cited mark’s file on the China Trademark Website—four fields decide what you do next.
Decides whether it has passed three years—the threshold for three-year non-use cancellation. Ours was filed in 2015; by 2023 it had long crossed that line.
Decides whether it can block you. Similarity turns on similarity-group codes, not industry gut feel: same name, different class may not conflict; different names, same class may still be similar.
Registered marks renew every ten years. Unused marks near expiry often aren’t renewed. Sometimes waiting is cheaper than fighting.
The wider this column, the more it looks stockpiled, not used. Ours ran from “sales promotion for others” all the way to “retail of pharmaceuticals”—classic register-and-sit.
Seven steps across two years. Click “Next” through it—watch whose court the ball is in at step five.
“撤三” is short for cancellation of a registered trademark for non-use for three consecutive years. It’s the opening Trademark Law leaves for latecomers: a trademark is for use, not a collectible. Register and sit unused for three years, and any entity or individual may apply to cancel it.
Where a registered trademark becomes the generic name of the goods for which it is approved, or is not used for three consecutive years without proper reason, any entity or individual may apply to the Trademark Office to cancel that registered trademark.
Two points most people don’t know.
“Any entity or individual”
You don’t need to prove you’re an interested party, and you don’t need a refusal first. Anyone can file. In practice, agents often file in a third party’s name.
The burden of proof is flipped
You don’t have to prove they’re not using it—you couldn’t. Once a non-use cancellation is accepted, the trademark registrant must produce evidence of use for those three years within two months. No evidence, cancelled.
Non-use cancellation in this case
Filed on May 5; the evidence window locked to exactly three years back: 2020-05-05 to 2023-05-04. Within the two-month period, the registrant filed zero evidence of use. Registration cancelled; the original Trademark Registration Certificate voided and published.
Then came the review
Review found the cited mark had been cancelled for three consecutive years of non-use, and the decision was effective. Exclusive rights in the cited mark were gone—so the prior-right conflict was gone. “米羊数智” got preliminary approval. We got the name back.
Watch the link between the cancellation filing date and the evidence window: the window runs three years back from the filing date. Timing matters. If the other side just started sporadic use, filing too early can pull that use into the window.
Non-use cancellation isn’t a silver bullet. It costs money and time—and can fail. Four questions: should you take this path for the mark in your way?
The Trademark Law was revised on 26 June 2026 by the 23rd Session of the Standing Committee of the 14th National People’s Congress. Since 1982 it had only been amended four times; this is the first full revision: chapters reshuffled, article numbers moved widely. The new law takes effect on 1 January 2027; until then the 2019 Amendment still applies. The case above ran entirely on the old numbers—and those citations were correct at the time.
| This step | Old law (2019 Amendment, through 2026-12-31) | New law (2026 Revision, effective 2027-01-01) |
|---|---|---|
| Prior similarity bars registration | Article 30 | Article 20 |
| Refuse application; no publication | Article 30 | Article 34 |
| Review of refusal (file within fifteen days) | Article 34 | Article 37, with a nine-month decision deadline |
| Non-use cancellation (three consecutive years) | Article 49(2) | Article 57(3), with a nine-month decision deadline |
| Preliminary approval publication | Article 28 | Article 32 |
| Ten-year registration term | Article 39 | Article 43 |
| Name of the authority | Trademark Office / CNIPA | trademark administration department under the State Council |
For a one-person company, the most concrete change is a statutory review deadline for non-use cancellation: the trademark administration department under the State Council shall decide within nine months of receiving the application, extendable by three months with approval in special cases. How long cancellation used to take was open-ended; now you can put that window on your product roadmap.
Where a registered trademark becomes the generic name of the goods for which it is approved, or is not used for three consecutive years without proper reason, any entity or individual may apply to the trademark administration department under the State Council to cancel that registered trademark. The department shall decide within nine months of receiving the application. Where an extension is needed in special circumstances, it may be extended by three months with approval from the department’s responsible person.
You never had to walk this whole path. When Lei Jun lists four naming standards, “has a trademark” comes first—not formalism.
- Search costs almost nothing: China Trademark Website is free; half an hour clears a shortlist. Finish before line one of code—don’t wait until you file.
- Similarity is wider than you think: “米羊” was blocked once by a suffixed prior mark and once by a reversed-order mark. Search additions, deletions, reversals, and homophones together.
- Read the class: the Notice of Refusal said similarity on similar services. Same name, different class may not conflict; different names, same class may—similarity-group codes decide.
After a refusal you have three paths. Price them before you choose.
- Rename: cheapest in cash, costliest in brand. Domains, accounts, published content all restart—later is more expensive.
- Negotiate an assignment: fastest, but they set the price. If they’re still using it, this is often the only path.
- Non-use cancellation + review: best value when they’re not using it; the cost is time. Under the new law, cancellation decides within nine months—plus review, plan about a year.
Refusal isn’t final. Check who the cited mark is and whether it’s in use—then decide rename or fight.
Burden of proof in non-use cancellation sits on the registrant. You file; they produce evidence—or it’s cancelled in two months.
The evidence window runs three years back from the filing date. Timing directly decides whether they can assemble evidence.
The new law applies from 1 January 2027. Article numbers move widely; both non-use cancellation and review of refusal gain a nine-month statutory deadline.
Legal sources: Trademark Law of the People's Republic of China (adopted 23 August 1982; revised 26 June 2026 by the 23rd Session of the Standing Committee of the 14th National People's Congress; effective 1 January 2027). Full text on the NPC website; published 2026-06-26; verified for this lesson 2026-08-10. Old article numbers follow the Trademark Law (2019 Amendment).
Case source: 米羊科技’s own trademark registration and non-use cancellation experience; party names, registration numbers, and document numbers are omitted. Cancellation and preliminary approval are public procedures—readers can look up any mark’s file and status on the China Trademark Website.