SAIC Promulgates Measures for Oral Hearing of Trademark Review Cases
The State Administration for Industry and Commerce of China ("SAIC") recently promulgated the Measures for Oral Hearing of Trademark Review Cases, which has come into effect on 4 May 2017. The Measures specify that parties of a trademark review case, in particular where intricate facts are involved, may request for an oral hearing to be conducted by the Trademark Review and Adjudication Board (TRAB) to confirm admissibility of the evidence.
According to the Trademark Law and the Rules for Trademark Review and Adjudication, examination of a trademark review case by TRAB is generally undertaken in documentary form; however, where the case warrants the parties' clarification of doubts on spot, TRAB may conduct an oral hearing ex officio or at the request of the parties.
As regards when to file an oral hearing, the Measures stipulate that where the oral hearing is requested by the applicant of the review case, the request shall be submitted to TRAB at the time of filing the trademark review request or no later than 30 days after the receipt of the counter-argument from the respondent, and where the request is filed by the respondent, the request shall be submitted to TRAB at the time of his filing the counter-argument or when submitting supplementary evidence.
As oral hearing is considered a mode of examination in the investigation process, no extra fee is required for filing of such proceeding.
