China's first sound trademark TM No. "14503615" is the opening track of the Radio Program of China Radio International, applied by China Radio International in four classes, namely class 35, 38, 41 and 42.
China Trademark Office (CTO) began to accept and examine sound as trademark on May 1, 2014. The application process of sound trademark is strictly based on The Forms of Sound Trademark and the Standards for Substantive Examination (for trial), under which sounds that meet the legal requirements could be registered and protected as trademarks.
The substantive examination of sound trademark adopts the same standards as the examination of visual trademark, including examination on prohibitory provisions as well as examination on similarity. Generally speaking, a sound trademark will have distinctive feature only after long-term use. That is to say, only when consumers form certain link between a sound and the corresponding goods or service, can such sound be registered as a trademark.
It's worth mentioning that the above mentioned sound trademark becomes the first of its kind to have passed the examination of CTO after over a year's examination until February13, 2016.
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