What does the Post Office Coffee rejection mean?

China Post Group Co., Ltd. filed several POST COFFEE trademark applications in early April, covering international classes 20, 21, 29, and 30. All are now marked as having received a rejection notice. The authority has not published a specific reason. Zhongyu Kaye, the partner building Post Coffee, withdrew its own similar marks within days.

Common grounds for refusal include prior registration by others, similarity to existing trademarks, infringement of prior rights, absolute or relative prohibitions, and a mark made up of generic terms. No trademark tied to Post Coffee has been approved so far. A trademark setback does not stop day-to-day store operation, but the dispute over who was first continues in Xiamen and Zhongshan.

China Post made a high-profile entry into the coffee market, only to hit a snag in the trademark registration process. In April of this year, several "邮局咖啡POST COFFEE" trademarks submitted by the Postal Group received rejection notices. This incident has drawn widespread attention: is it due to a lack of distinctiveness in generic terms, or is it because they are similar to existing trademarks? Will the trademark setback affect the daily operations of Post Coffee? At the same time, the controversy over "who was the first Post Coffee" continues to simmer in Xiamen, Zhongshan, and other places. This article will sort out the sequence of events, analyze the legal logic behind the trademark rejection, and bring a professional perspective from Front Street Coffee.

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Not long ago, China Post, which had just planned to make a big splash in the coffee sector, recently ran into obstacles in trademark registration. According to information disclosed on the Tianyancha platform, China Post Group Co., Ltd. submitted multiple registration applications for the "邮局咖啡POST COFFEE" trademark in early April of this year, covering international classes 20, 21, 29, 30, and others. However, these applications are currently all in the status of "rejection notice issued."

Perhaps China Post itself did not expect that applying to register "邮局咖啡" would be rejected. Although the authorities have not published the specific reasons for the rejection, the common reasons for refusing trademark registration are limited to a few: prior registration by others, similarity to existing trademarks, infringement of others' "prior rights," triggering absolute or relative prohibitions, and the trademark itself being composed of generic terms.

Zhongyu Kaye, the company working with the postal side to create Post Coffee, also attempted to register a series of similar trademarks such as "邮局咖啡," "邮政咖啡," and "POSTE COFFEE" after the Postal Group submitted the "邮局咖啡POST COFFEE" application, but all were voluntarily withdrawn within just a few days. As of now, no trademark related to "邮局咖啡" or "邮政咖啡" has been successfully approved.

It can therefore be inferred that the rejection of "邮局咖啡 POST COFFEE" this time is very likely because both "邮局" and "咖啡" carry the attribute of generic names. If generic terms were to be monopolized by a single entity, that would conflict with the provisions of trademark law. For this reason, combinations such as "邮政咖啡," "咖啡邮政," "邮局咖啡," or "咖啡邮局" are all difficult to register successfully as trademarks.

Another possibility relates to the distinctive characteristics of the trademark. Because words such as "邮政" and "邮局" easily evoke fixed associations, when they are used for catering services or food products, it is difficult for them to have sufficient distinctiveness, and thus they lack the distinctiveness a trademark should have.

So does this rejection mean that "邮局咖啡" has completely lost any chance of trademark registration? Not necessarily. If China Post applies to the Trademark Review and Adjudication Board for review within 15 days from the date of receiving the rejection notice, there is still a possibility of successful registration.

According to follow-up information from Tianyancha, in the registration process for "邮局咖啡POST COFFEE," there is currently no record of the Postal Group filing for review. Once 15 days pass without review, the chances of the trademark being submitted again and approved will be very slim; if review is requested, it will take 6 to 9 months before the result is known.

Regarding this rejection, many netizens are concerned: if the trademark ultimately cannot be registered, will Post Coffee's business be affected? In fact, whether a trademark can be successfully registered does not directly hinder the normal operation of brand stores; it merely means the brand name cannot obtain exclusive rights, and other entities may also use the same name.

In February of this year, when Post Coffee, a self-owned chain brand under China Post, opened its Xiamen Guomao Building store, officials claimed it was the country's first Post Coffee store.

However, as soon as the news came out, netizens immediately pointed out that before this store opened, similar themed "Post Coffee" outlets had already appeared in Xiamen's Shapowei, around Shanghai's Wukang Building, and in Zhongshan, Guangdong, among other places. Subsequently, Xiamen Post stated through its official account that it would reserve the right to pursue legal responsibility against any unit or individual using "邮局咖啡" without authorization.

Almost at the same time, the public account "中山集邮," verified as "China Post Zhongshan Branch," also issued a statement saying that "Post Coffee邮局咖啡" was currently the only coffee-themed post office authorized for operation by China Post Group Co., Ltd. Zhongshan Branch, and confirmed that the local authorized store had already opened as early as December last year.

For a time, questions over who was really China Post's first Post Coffee and whether franchising was possible only made outsiders more confused. Ms. He of the Zhongshan Postal Branch explained that when China Post's public account said "Xiamen Post Coffee is the first," it actually meant "the first cafe opened inside a postal business hall," and the outside world had misunderstood it; the wording of the relevant news announcement was indeed not rigorous enough.

Image source: Internet

The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.