China300622.CS
Doctor Glasses loses final appeal in DOCTOR trademark cancellation case, says prior-use rights allow continued use
Doctor Glasses Chain Co., Ltd. announced on September 11 that it received an administrative judgment from the Beijing High People's Court, which issued a final ruling in the administrative dispute over the cancellation review of the DOCTOR trademark, registration number 1091685, brought by the company against the China National Intellectual Property Administration and a third party, Mo X Hong. The court rejected the appeal and upheld the original judgment. The case originated in December 2023, when the third party applied to cancel the company's trademark on the grounds that it had not been used for three consecutive years. Both the China National Intellectual Property Administration and the first-instance court ruled to cancel the trademark's registration for the services under review. The company appealed, and this final judgment upheld the original decision. The company stated that the trademark was applied for in 1996 and has been in use since then. Under the current Trademark Law, the company enjoys prior-use rights, and after the judgment it can continue to use the trademark normally within its existing store network. It would be difficult for others to register the trademark for similar goods or services or to claim that the company is infringing. The company's own-brand lenses and frames do not use this trademark, and this judgment will not have a material adverse impact on the company's production and operations.