Answer ... Yes.

Answer ... A prior rights holder or a materially interested party may oppose an application based on its prior rights or interests. Any party has standing to oppose a mark on the basis that it violates any of the grounds set out under question 3.8, except for ‘confusion with a senior mark’.

Answer ... An opposition must be filed within three months of the date of publication of the subject application.

Answer ... Oppositions are reviewed by CNIPA.

Answer ... CNIPA will conduct a formalities review of the opposition submission and issue a filing receipt to the opposing party if the submission satisfies all formality requirements.

CNIPA will then forward a copy of the opposition submission to the trademark applicant, which will have 30 days to submit a response followed by a three-month supplemental response period. Under current law, the opposing party does not have the right to review and rebut the applicant’s response.

CNIPA will then review the case and issue a decision based on the parties’ submissions.

Answer ... If the trademark applicant is dissatisfied with the opposition decision, it may file an appeal with the TRAD within 15 days of receipt of the decision. The opposing party does not have the right to appeal an unfavourable opposition decision.

Once the TRAD has formally accepted the applicant’s appeal, it will forward a copy of the appeal submission to the opponent. Upon receipt, the opponent will have 30 days to file a response to the appeal.