On behalf of CHEERWIN GROUP, PATMARK ATTORNEYS filed an invalidation action against the trademark “超臧CHAOZANG” (No. 57512018) based on the trademark “超威” and has received a favorable decision. The CNIPA held that the disputed mark is composed of “超臧” and the corresponding “CHAOZANG”. The disputed mark is similar to the cited mark in terms of character composition, sound and overall appearance. They have constituted similar marks. Thus, the disputed mark has been declared as invalid.

According to the previous trademark review and examination practices, it is uncommon that the CNIPA recognizes that two marks composed of two Chinese characters with only one word different constitute similar marks. In this case, the second Chinese character of both marks are “威” and “臧” respectively with different pronunciation and meaning. But PATMARK ATTORNEYS claimed that both marks have the same structure with “戊” as the framework. They are similar in terms of character composition and overall appearance. The CNIPA has supported this claim and held that both marks are similar. It mainly depends on the examiner’s subjective judgment in relation to the issue of similarity. PATMARK ATTORNEYS argues trademark similarity from different angles. What PATMARK ATTORNEYS strives for is letting the examiner consider our client's claims to the full extent.