美国专利商标局发布2020财年年报 - 每七个美国商标申请中就有一个来自中国申请人

The Trademarks organization of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) had an impressive year with several new milestones, despite the challenges of a global pandemic. Entirely electronic processing of trademark applications rose to 88.7%. The gains made in efficiency throughout the application cycle enabled Trademarks to successfully exceed pendency and quality targets for the 15th consecutive year—this as trademark applications increased by 9.6% and as COVID-19 forced a dramatic shift in agency operations.

尽管面临全球性疫情的挑战，美国专利商标局（下称USPTO）还是交出了一份令人满意的年度答卷。2020财年商标申请的整体电子处理率升至88.7％。而由于商标申请量增加9.6％，以及疫情使得商标局运行方式的显著变化，USPTO已经连续第十五年成功完成审查时间和审查质量双重目标。

Unsurprisingly, China has the most applications and registrations before USPTO. In FY2020, it even has nearly half of the total amount, leading Canada by an order of magnitude. China is also the only developing country among the top ten application/registration residences. Due to the impact of the global epidemic, the number of trademark applications of most countries in FY 2020 will be basically the same or even less than in FY 2019; while China has grown against the trend, and the growth rate in FY 2020 reached 34.4%.

意料之中，中国个人和企业依然是美国商标申请和注册的最大来源，2020财年更是占据近半壁江山，领先第二名加拿大一个数量级。中国也是前十大申请/注册国家中唯一的发展中国家。由于全球疫情影响，大多数国家2020年申请量相比2019年都基本持平甚至减少，而中国则逆势增长，2020财年商标申请增长率达到34.4%。（表一-表二）

TRADEMARK APPLICATIONS FILED BY RESIDENTS OF FOREIGN COUNTRIES AND TERRITORIES TOP10 (FY 2018–FY 2020)

外国人商标申请量TOP10（2018-2020财年）

（表一）

TRADEMARKS REGISTERED TO RESIDENTS OF FOREIGN COUNTRIES AND TERRITORIES TOP10 (FY 2018–FY 2020)

外国人商标注册量TOP10（2018-2020财年）

（表二）

Regarding the trademark examination data of public concern, the total number of applications (including additional classes) in FY 2020 exceeded 700,000, and the total number of registrations (including additional classes) exceeded 400,000. By the end of the Q4 FY 2020, there were over one million pending applications.

关于公众关心的商标审查数据，2020财年申请（包括多类申请）总量超过70万件，注册（包括多类申请）总量超过40万件。至第四季度末，共有未决案件超过100万件。（表三-表四）

SUMMARY OF TRADEMARK EXAMINING ACTIVITIES (FY 2020)

商标审查数据一览表（2020财年）

                                                    （表三）

SUMMARY OF PENDING TRADEMARK APPLICATIONS (FY 2020)

申请中商标数据一览表（2020财年）

（表四）

1 Includes applications pending before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board and suspended cases.

¹包括处于商标上诉委员会和暂缓审查阶段案件。2 Includes all applications in all phases of publication, issue, and registration. 

²包括公告、制证、注册等所有阶段的申请案件。

First action pendency measures the average number of months from the date of application filing to the examining attorney's first office action. The target it between 2.5 and 3.5 months from filing. It is basically within three months, but is slightly extended in Q4, which may be related to the increase in the number of applications in Q4.

商标审查方面，USPTO要求商标审查初次审查意见自申请日起算2.5至3.5个月内下发，2020财年的审查时间基本在三个月以内，第四季度略有延长，可能与四季度申请量增长有关。（图一）

（图一）

Total pendency measures the average number of months from date of filing to notice of abandonment, notice of allowance, or registration for applications based on use in that month excluding applications that were previously suspended or were involved in inter partes proceedings at the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board. The target is twelve months or less, on average.

USPTO对商标总审限，即从商标提交申请之日至无效通知、审查通过通知，或基于已使用的商标申请注册之日（不含暂缓审查或者进入商标上诉委员会的申请）所用时间，要求在12个月之内，根据统计，目前总审查时间在10个月左右。（图二）

（图二）

Statement of Use (SOU) pendency measures the average number of days for initial processing of an SOU from date of filing. The target is 15 business date. The estimate time to registration is approximately 3.5 months from filing the SOU.

商标使用声明（SOU）审查时间是指自首次提交声明之日至首次审查此声明的时间。USPTO制定的目标是15个工作日。目前基本能达到审限要求。而从提交SOU到商标成功注册大概需要3.5个月的时间。（图三）

（图三）

Post registration pendency measures the average number of days to assign a renewal of registration from date of filing. The target is 30 days. However from the data, the performance was not satisfactory: the target was barely achieved in Q4 FY2020.

注册后审查衡量的是从商标注册人提交续展申请至核准所需要的时间。USPTO目标是三十日。而从统计来看，2020财年表现不尽如人意，仅在第四季度勉强完成目标。（图四）

（图四）

In FY2020, 400,298 classes were newly registered, an increase of 0.87% over 396,836 classes of FY2019. Fiscal Year New Registrations are the number of marks based on total classes that are registered by fiscal year. At the same time, the trademark renewal rate is declining year by year, and in fiscal 2020 it will drop to less than 30%.

2020财年新注册商标400298件，比上年度的396836件增长0.87%。（此件数以商标注册类别数量计）与此同时，商标续展率则是逐年走低，2020财年更是降至三成以下。（注：2020财年26.30%为初步数据）（图五）

（图五）

The USPTO continues to build out the specimen database to better detect when the same image has been used by multiple applicants for different marks. The database utilizes a combination of rapid image matching, AI-assisted filtering, and other methodologies to compare and contrast incoming specimens, either individually or in bulk, against other specimens. Progress was slowed due to delays related to the COVID-19 pandemic and planned staffing adjustments. Despite those challenges, by early calendar year 2021, the database is expected to include 10 full years of specimens.

此外，USPTO继续建立使用证据数据库，以更好检测同一张图片是否被多位申请人用于不同商标。该数据库利用快速图像匹配、AI辅助筛选及其他手段完成单张或批量的图片比对。由于新冠病毒肺炎疫情影响以及计划中的人员调整，这一进度有所放缓。但尽管面临各种挑战，到2021年初，该数据库仍有望涵盖十年内的使用证据图片。

Andrei Iancu, Director of USPTO, said that, in 2020, the world had to confront the worst pandemic in 100 years. As the world continues to grapple with this pandemic, technology will be at the center of any solution. Researchers are racing to develop vaccines, doctors and pharmaceutical companies are experimenting with drug treatments, and technology companies are figuring out how to repurpose existing factories and supply chains to build ventilators, masks, testing equipment, and other lifesaving necessities. In the meantime, many companies and agencies, including the USPTO, have had to lean heavily on technology to do remotely what they used to do in person. None of this technology would be possible without the indelible spirit and perseverance of American inventors and entrepreneurs.

正如USPTO局长安德烈·扬库所言，2020年，整个世界都不得不面对百年来最严重的疫情。随着全球继续面对疫情影响，技术终将成为所有答案的核心。研究人员竞相研发疫苗，医生和药企在进行治疗药物试验，技术公司在研究如何改变现有工厂和供应链的用途，以建造通风机、口罩、检测设备和其他救生用品。同时，包括USPTO在内的许多公司和机构不得不依赖技术来远程完成他们过去亲自做的事情。没有发明家和企业家的不懈精神和毅力，这些技术都将无法实现。

扩展阅读：

《美国商标官费上涨最终法案》：USPTO于2020年11月颁布2021财年商标收费调整最终法案，法案已于2021年1月2日正式生效。本次调整涉及商标申请、商标使用声明，以及商标上诉委员会阶段的多项收费，提高部分服务的收费标准，并增加某些服务项目的收费。本次收费调整旨在使USPTO能继续提高商标审查质量，优化审查时间，投入商标信息技术系统和基础设施的现代化建设，使其即使在财政波动时期也能平稳运行。值得注意的是，该法案明确了根据美国商标法第8条和第71条规定的注册商标使用宣誓的收费标准，不仅在原来基础上提高宣誓费用，还另外增加了一项“申请提交之后、使用宣誓审查完成之前，提交请求删除商品、服务及/或类别的费用”。

《美国官方新资讯：优先审查COVID-19相关商品或服务商标》：2020年6月15日，USPTO发布了针对新冠肺炎疫情期间（COVID-19）特定商品商标和服务商标申请的优先审查计划。根据此项计划，为应对新冠疫情的爆发，满足研发医疗产品和服务用以抗击新冠病毒的迫切需要，并将成功研发的产品尽快推向市场，对于那些符合新冠病毒相关的医疗产品和服务的商标申请，USPTO将接受申请人优先审查的申请，并加快对这类商标的初步审查。此外，USPTO认为新冠疫情爆发所带来的影响适用于美国联邦法规第37编第二部148条所规定的“特殊情况”，因此将免除此类商标申请优先审查的官费。优先审查的目的在于加快对符合条件的商标申请的初步审查。如果优先审查请求被认可，该申请将立即分配给审查员审查，这将使审查加快大约2个月。而后申请人可通过电话或电子邮件快速答复审查意见（如有），以此进一步加快申请流程。

本文数据来源：

1. https://www.uspto.gov/dashboard/trademarks/

2. https://www.uspto.gov/dashboard/ttab/

3.https://www.uspto.gov/trademark/laws-regulations/updated-trademark-ttab-fees-processes?utm_campaign=subscriptioncenter&utm_content=&utm_medium=email&utm_name=&utm_source=govdelivery&utm_term=

4.https://cn.bing.com/search?q=FY+2020+United+States+Patent+and+Trademark+Office+PERFORMANCE+AND+ACCOUNTABILITY+REPORT&go=%E6%8F%90%E4%BA%A4&qs=ds&form=QBLH

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