[Case Summary]

Zhejiang Tapai Company is a well-known manufacturer and supplier of alcoholic beverages in China, and an important export base for Shaoxing wine. Its previously registered "Ta" trademark is a well-known trademark. At the same time, the "Tapai", "Silver Tapai", and "Tapai Fu" trademarks registered on Class 33 alcoholic beverages have been widely promoted and used, and have gained high popularity and reputation among the relevant public, becoming familiar to consumers.

Through monitoring, we found that an individual subject applied for the registration of "Xingta" trademark in Category 33 on May 26, 2022, and its products were "Baijiu, rice wine", etc. We believe that the similarity between the "Xingta Brand" trademark and the "Tower Brand" trademark is high, both containing "Tower Brand" and not forming obvious other meanings, which can easily confuse or misidentify consumers about the source of goods. The tower company then entrusted our company to file an opposition application against the trademark.

[Result of Trial]

The case has now been concluded, and the result is as follows: the disputed trademark "Xingta Pai" will not be registered.

After examination, the Trademark Office believes that both the opposed trademark "Xingta Pai" and the previously registered trademarks cited by the objector, such as "Ta Pai", contain "Ta Pai" and have not formed any obvious other meanings. The coexistence and use of the two trademarks may lead the relevant public to mistakenly believe that they are a series of trademarks from the same market entity or have other specific connections, resulting in confusion and misidentification of the source of the goods. Therefore, the two trademarks have constituted similar trademarks used on similar goods. Therefore, the trademark "Xingta Pai" will not be registered. 

[Case Analysis]

At present, most countries in the world have a trademark opposition system in their trademark laws, which aims to protect the rights of other prior rights holders through public supervision and is a supplement to the trademark examination system. For trademarks that fully contain previously registered trademarks and have not formed obvious other meanings, the registrant may actively file an objection application.

In practice, enterprises or individuals can entrust us to conduct regular monitoring of key trademarks. If similar trademark applications are found to have entered the announcement period, the trademark opposition application procedure can be initiated to safeguard their relevant rights and interests.