Dissatisfied with the refusal decision of the trademark “南街人民公社”under No.22867085 in class 43, Nanjie village (group) co. LTD in Henan province entrusted Gaowo to represent the review application. And Gaowo succeeded in safeguarding the company’s legal rights.
The proposed mark:南街人民公社 (Nan Jie Ren Min Gong She)
The refused services:retirement home services; rental of cooking apparatus; hotel services; tea house; boarding for animals; rental of lighting apparatus*; restaurant services; day-nursery [crèche] services; rental of drinking water dispensers; tourist home services.
“人民公社”contained in the proposed mark “南街人民公社”just reflects the background characteristics of the time when the applicant was founded. And“南街人民公社” was the name of “南街村”(Nan Jie Cun) in a historic period, and was the historical product of “南街村”(Nan Jie Cun), representing the name of a real village in that period. And in order to launch the retro brand that reflects its historical characteristics, the applicant created “南街村人民公社”（Nan Jie Cun Ren Min Gong She）, which just shows the historical background when “南街村”(Nan Jie Cun)was created. And the retro atmosphere of the brand was reflected incisively and vividly. It's like the applicant's Nan jie cun instant noodles, also known as Beijing instant noodles. It was very popular among men, women and children in the 1990s, letting the post-80s people feel the taste of their childhood. And no political meaning was involved.
Besides, many“人民公社”trademarks have gained registration in class 43 and other classes, which shows the proposed mark should also be approved of registration as a trademark. And the long-term use and promotion of the proposed mark by the applicant makes the distinctiveness of the proposed mark more prominent. Thus the proposed mark will not arise confusion among the consumers and can be used as a trademark and distinguish goods origin.
Based on the reasonable and well-founded analysis of the attorney from Gaowo, the TRAB decided finally to approve the mark “南街人民公社”under No.22867085 of preliminary publication.
