英国商标数据 - 2022 年回顾

英国知识产权局（UKIPO）每年都会发布上一年的商标、专利和外观设计申请相关数据，2022年的数据刚刚发布，显示出一些有意思的变化。总体而言，2022 年提交的新申请数量比 2021 年的创纪录数量有所下降，但仍大大高于 2020 年的申请量，与此同时，虽然2022 年的申请量比之 2021 年下降了，但2022 年的商标异议数量却又大幅上升了。

Each year the UKIPO publish facts and figures relating to the trade mark, patent and design filings of the previous calendar year. The 2022 figures have recently been released, and there are some intriguing patterns emerging. Overall, new application filings were down from record 2021 numbers but still significantly above the figures in 2020, while oppositions to trade mark applications grew significantly despite the drop in filings from 2021.

本文将讨论以下主题，并就2023 年前二季度已知的一些数据对品牌所有者的影响提出建议。

We discuss the key issues below with implications and advice for what brand owners should do with some data also received in the first two quarters of 2023.

2021年以来，商标申请总量逐年增加。2017年，UKIPO仅收到95,203件商标申请，而2021年，申请量已增至196,639 件，五年间增长了107%，且期间每一年的申请量都创了纪录。 

Since 2021, the total number of trade mark filings had been increasing year on year. While only 95,203 trade mark applications were filed at the UKIPO in 2017, filings grew to 196,639 in 2021 – an increase of 107% in 5 years. Each successive year was a record filing year. 

2022 年的申请总量减少了19%，降至158,821件。与此同时，值得注意的是，2022年这一年的申请量仍然为史上第二高。

However, 2022 saw a 19% fall with the total number of filings dropping to 158,821. This may be a sizeable step down in filings, but it is important to note that it is still comfortably the 2nd highest filing year. 

UKIPO对这一趋势变化发表的评论认为，之前申请量激增的原因是来自中国申请人的申请量的持续增长、Covid-19大流行的影响（如申请人为其多元化的商业活动寻求商标保护），当然还有英国脱欧的影响。前两个因素似乎也影响了世界其他知识产权局收到的申请的趋势变化，但最后一个因素对UKIPO的趋势变化有着独特影响。

The UKIPO have commented on these trends, attributing the previous surge to an increasing number of filings by Chinese applicants, the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic (for example, Applicants seeking trade mark protection for their diversified commercial activities), and of course the UK’s exit from the European Union. While it seems that the first two of these factors have influenced filing trends at other IP Offices around the world, the latter is naturally a unique influence upon trends at the UKIPO.

UKIPO公布的数据显示，2023年前两个季度的申请量与2022年的数据基本持平——2023年1月至6月共提交了80521件申请（比2022年申请量的一半略高，但请注意，2022年后6个月的申请量略有下降）。

Current data from the first two quarters of 2023 published by the UKIPO indicates filings are roughly stable with 2022 figures – with 80521 applications filed from January-June 2023 (slightly higher than 50% of 2022 figures, but noting that there was a slight drop in filing numbers in the final 6 months of 2022). 

看似不合逻辑的事实——2022年，在UKIPO注册的商标数量首次超过申请的数量。这一怪现象确实是可能的，因为成功的申请并不一定能在提交的当年就获得注册。例如，2021年12月31日提交的申请要到2022年才能获得注册。

Seemingly illogical, but true – 2022 was the first year that the UKIPO registered more trade mark applications than were filed. This quirky fact is indeed possible as successful applications do not necessarily reach registration in the year in which they were filed. For example, an application filed 31 December 2021 could not achieve registration until 2022.

与申请量类似，2022年的注册数量也较 2021年的历史最高记录有所下降。不过，下降幅度仅为3.5%（远小于申请量19%的降幅）。

Similarly to filing totals, the number of registrations in 2022 fell from a 2021’s record high too. However, the drop in total registrations was only 3.5% (much smaller than the 19% drop in filings).  

UKIPO似乎还没处理完2020、2021这两年大量提交的申请，这就导致2022年的年度注册数量变多了。随着2020/2021年积压申请的逐渐清理完毕以及2022 年申请量的减少，2023 年的注册总量可能会大幅下降。

It seems the UKIPO are still working through the applications from the bumper filing years of 2020 and 2021, and that this prosecution is buoying annual registration numbers for 2022. It therefore seems likely that there may be a more significant step down in the total registration numbers for the year 2023, as the 2020/2021 prosecution backlog is cleared and with fewer filings from 2022 following them.

UKIPO审查商标申请时，将检索在先近似商标。申请人会收到一份检索报告，包含在先商标的详细信息，申请人有机会在继续申请之前修改或撤回其申请。如申请继续，在先商标所有人会收到关于该申请的通知，这可能会触发异议程序。

When UK TM applications are examined by the UKIPO, the examination includes a search for earlier registrations of similar TMs. The Applicant is provided with details of any trade marks cited in the search report, and given the opportunity to amend or withdraw the application before it proceeds. When the application does proceed and the owners of the earlier cited TMs are notified, this can prompt oppositions.

官方发来的有关在后申请的预警通知非常重要，商标所有人对此必须仔细考量，以确保自身注册权利不被削弱。商标所有人的应对措施可能包括寻求专业建议、采取行动提出异议或以其他方式反对商标的使用或注册。

These warning notifications are important, and TM owners must consider them carefully if they are to ensure that their registered rights do not become diluted. This may include taking professional advice and taking steps to oppose or otherwise object to use or registration of the trade mark.

2022 年，共计31,112件申请的官方检索报告中引用了在先冲突商标。这与2021年的41,799件相比有所下降。鉴于申请量的减少，前述下降趋势并不让人意外，不过，下降的幅度略高于申请量的降幅——这多少仍有些出人意料。

In 2022 the number of applications in which the official search cited an earlier conflicting trade mark was 31,112. This represents a drop from the 41,799 citations raised in 2021. This might be expected in light of the lower number of filings, although this drop is  slightly greater than the fall in the number of filings - which is a little surprising.

2021 年和 2022 年，每个至少被引证了1个在先商标的申请，收到的在先商标的平均引证数量保持稳定（约 4.0 个）。2023 年，这一数字略有下降，说明审查员可能向更少的在先商标所有人发出了关于在后申请的预警通知。

The average number of citations raised per application in which at least 1 citation was raised was steady (~4.0 citations) across the years 2021 and 2022.  Figures for 2023 are a little lower which suggests examiners are potentially notifying fewer earlier trade mark owners of later filed applications.

英国的异议期是自“公告”之日起两个月。但是，商标所有人可以通过提交 TM7a“异议威胁通知”将异议期延长1个月。该程序的目的是让申请人了解，有第三方正在考虑提出异议。

The opposition period in the UK is two months from ‘publication’. However, trade mark owners can obtain a 1 month extension to this timeframe by filing a TM7a ‘Notice of threatened opposition’. This process puts the Applicant on notice that a third party is considering bringing an opposition.

2020年以来，TM7A通知的提交量急剧上升。2021年，TM7A通知的提交量同比增长了87%，达13,978件。2022 年，TM7A通知的提交量略有下降，为13,108件，不过，在商标申请量下降了19%的背景下，前述异议威胁通知的总数量仍然高得惊人。

We have seen a dramatic rise in the number of TM7As being filed since 2020. In 2021, the number of filed TM7As rose by 87% year on year to reach 13,978. The total number of TM7As filed in 2022 dropped slightly to 13,108, however this is still an incredibly high number of threatened oppositions when considered against the backdrop of a 19% fall in total filings.

如前所述，上一年提交的申请可能在下一年才会收到TM7A通知。粗略对比2021年和 2022年的申请量和异议威胁量后可知，收到异议威胁的申请的比例已经从~6%增长到了~8%。

As noted above, an application filed one year may not receive a TM7A until the following year. Nonetheless, loosely comparing filing figures and threatened oppositions in 2021 and 2022 suggests that the proportion of filings to receive a threat of opposition has grown from ~6% to ~8%. 

尽管 2022 年的商标申请量比 2021 年少，但该年度的异议（TM7）数量却大幅上升了。

There was also a significant rise in the number of oppositions (TM7s) served in 2022 despite fewer applications being filed than in 2021.

2020年正式提交的异议为 3,962 件，2021年跃升至6,793件（同比增长71%），2022 年又增加到9,529 件，同比增长 40%。

Formal oppositions had already jumped from 3,962 in 2020 to 6,793 in 2021 (a rise of 71% year on year) but 2022 saw 9,529 oppositions served – an increase of 40% year on year.

 2019年以来，UKIPO每年收到的异议数量增加了一倍以上。这与前文提到的英国商标注册量增长有关，也与2020/2021年申请量激增有关。

The annual number of oppositions served at the UKIPO has more than doubled since 2019. This is a consequence of the growth of the UK TM Register outlined above, and follows bumper filing years of 2020 and 2021.

不过，异议数量的快速增长，多少还是有些出人意料，因为2022年的商标申请量比2021年还要少。虽然一部分原因可能是在2021年这一申请量创纪录的年份提交的申请在2022年才收到正式异议，但这一滞后性似乎不足以完全解释。异议量的增加可能表明，在先商标所有者对在后申请的认识有所提高，和/或因此采取行动维护自己权利的可能性也有所增加。

However, the increase is somewhat surprising since fewer applications were filed in 2022 than 2021. Though the numbers might partially reflect that a large number of applications which were filed in the record filing year in 2021 would only have received formal oppositions in 2022, the lag in opposition does not appear to explain the increase completely. The rise in opposition numbers may point to an increased awareness among earlier trade mark owners of later applications, and/or an increased likelihood that they will take action to defend their rights.

从UKIPO公布的2023年前两个季度的官方数据来看，2023年1月到6月间共送达了3955件异议。这一数字比2022年的平均量略有下降，但仍大大高于2021年的数量。

Official figures received from the UKIPO so far in the first two quarters of 2023 indicate that 3955 oppositions have been served from January-June 2023. This is a little down on the average rate for 2022 rate but is still tracking significantly above 2021 numbers. 

许多异议威胁和大多数的正式异议都会通过某种形式的协议进行和解，而后导致对异议或申请进行撤回或修改。英国的异议程序规则允许在异议正式答辩之前有一个冷静期，以便双方在此期间进行谈判协商以达成和解。

Many threatened oppositions and most formal opposition proceedings are settled by some form of agreement, resulting in either the opposition or the application being withdrawn or amended. The rules of opposition proceedings in the UK allow for a cooling-off period for discussion of a possible settlement before the opposition has to be defended formally.

2022年，UKIPO收到的异议大幅增加，但请求进入冷静期的申请也显著增加。2022年要求进入冷静期的请求数量比2021年几乎翻了一番，在2022年送达的异议案件中，UKIPO收到要求进入冷静期的TM9C请求占异议案的比例约为27%（2021年的比例约为19%）。

The number of opposition proceedings at the UKIPO may have risen dramatically in 2022, but the requests to enter cooling-off periods rose significantly too. The number of requests to enter the cooling-off period in 2022 nearly doubled from 2021’s figures, and TM9C cooling off requests were received by the UKIPO in approximately 27% of the 2022’s served oppositions (compared to approximately 19% in 2021).

这似乎表明，尽管对申请提出异议的数量呈上升趋势，但在先商标的所有者和在后的申请人在可能的情况下更倾向于寻求友好和解方案。

This seems to suggest that while there is a trend of increased numbers of opposition to applications, earlier trade mark owners and applicants are nonetheless more likely to pursue amicable settlement of oppositions where possible.