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On 28 December 2000, the IPO announced the Main Points for Examining Disclaimers of Components in Trademarks. The main content is as follows:
Where a trademark design as a whole has be-come distinctive through long-term use, no disclaimer of descriptive or non-distinctive word or design is necessary.
The marks containing generic names, descrip-tive words or designs, words or designs de-scribing geographical areas or places of origin, or words or designs insufficient to identify the origin of goods, will be examined after the applicant has disclaimed these unregistrable components.
No disclaimer of descriptive or non-distinctive words in a mark is required if a unitary im-pression is created and its distinctiveness is acquired through the use of combining the descriptive or non-distinctive words with some other words, or the use of the entire words as a pun.
A trademark which comprises descriptive or non-distinctive words may become distinctive when the entire words are particularly stylized, or specially arranged, or play with language grammar errors (including mispronounced or misspelled words). In such a case, however, disclaimer of the exclusive right to use the non-stylized words, or the correct words, or the true text meanings in the mark, is still re-quired.
When non-Chinese wording in a mark is in its original text descriptive or non-distinctive, disclaimer of such non-Chinese wording is required.
If the names of goods in a mark are disclaimed for exclusive use according to these main points, whereas use of such mark on certain other goods would mislead the public as to the nature, quality or origin of the trademarked goods, the applicant should be notified to de-lete the goods in question from the application. For example, where an application designates the trademark "xx Goat Milk" for use on goods "goat milk and cow milk", the word "Goat Milk" contained in the mark should be disclaimed, and the goods "cow milk" should be deleted from the specification of goods.
In the cases where a mark is granted registra-tion after the descriptive or non-distinctive words or designs contained in it are disclaimed for exclusive use, if afterwards, such words or designs have become a symbol to identify certain goods in the marketplace through use, an application for registration of the mark may be filed accompanied by pertinent documen-tary evidence.
These main points for disclaimers are also ap-plicable to service marks, collective marks and certification marks.
