On July 12, 2016, the China Trademark Office announced that in addition to the goods and services listed in the Classification Table of Similar Goods and Services for Registration of Trademarks, 2,000 more goods and services are acceptable.

According to the announcement, the release of these acceptable 2,000 goods and services was a measure taken to facilitate trademark registration procedure, on-line filing and searching.

There are more than 10,000 goods and services listed in the classification table. Obviously, adding of such 2,000 more acceptable items to the table provides great flexibility for the trademark applicants. We also expect to receive reduced rejections on the ground of using non-acceptable goods or services.

The classification table not only provides guidelines for trademark office to examine trademark applications, but also for administrative and judicial authorities to hear trademark infringement disputes.