In China, when an applicant files a trademark registration application, he/it can disclaim some part of the mark. In accordance with the provisions of the Chinese Trademark Office, only when a part (design or words) is not registrable but un-separatable from the whole mark (deletion of it will influence the mark), it can be disclaimed by the applicant at the time of filing the application.
The Chinese Trademark Office stipulates that there are mainly three circumstances under which a disclaimer can be made:
1. In the circumstances described in Article 7 of the Chinese Trademark Law being not distinctive;
2. In the circumstances described by Item 5, Paragraph 1 of Article 8 of the Trademark Law-being general names or designs of the goods in respect of which the trademark is used; and
3. In the circumstances described by Item 6, Paragraph 1 of Article 8 of the Trademark Law-having direct reference to the quality, main raw materials, function, use, weight, quantity or other features of the goods in respect of which the trademark is used.
Where disclaimer is declared, upon examination and approval of the Trademark Office, the whole trademark will be published by the Trademark Office, but will be indicated as a certain part is disclaimed in the publication, as well as registration certificate and the Trademark Office's interior registration certificate file. Where a trademark is an enterprise name (some part of the name is distinctive, and the enterprise name is identical to the name of the applicant), disclaimer of its non-distinctive part may not be indicated.
