China launches inquiry system for EU trademarks

BEIJING -- China's National Intellectual Property Administration (NIPA) on Monday launched a registration-information inquiry system for trademarks registered in the European Union.

The system, named EUTMS, is the first official inquiry tool of international trademark information in China, and is capable of handling 100 active users simultaneously, according to Wang Peizhang, head of the administration's public service department.

The general public may search with keywords, such as trademark name, application number and applicant, to browse and download trademark information.

The system was developed following an agreement signed on Sept 25, 2020 on the mutual exchange of trade mark information between the NIPA and the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO).

By the end of March, the EUIPO had offered nearly 2 million pieces of trademark information to the NIPA, and China had shared more than 31 million pieces of information to the TMview database of the EUIPO, said Wang at a press conference in Beijing.

The NIPA will further optimize the functions of the EUTMS, striving to provide better and more efficient trademark information services, according to Wang.