There is an old saying of describing bureaucracy of Chinese officials in departments which hold rights of issuing a certificate or approving something: difficult access, bad attitude and tortuous procedures. I used to be a prosecutor and now work for Lehman Lee & Xu Law firm, I have a more comprehensive knowledge and hatred for the bureaucracy.
The government knows this. So the central government is now
Implementing a reform with features of decentralization and streamlining organization. To respond to the requirement of central government, the minister of State Administration of Industry and Commerce said to journalists during the two sessions just held in Beijing, that SAIC is aiming to further shorten the pendency period for trademarks at the CTMO (Chinese Trade Mark Office).
That is just a void promise. The public needs to know how, to know the specific measures and the time schedule. Just one week ago, CTMO was reported for half a year late of issuance of trade mark certificates, and CTMO explained that they were lack of paper for making certificates. That is ridiculous. We can see from the extreme case that low efficiency and laziness is a chronic disease of governmental officials and difficult to be rectified just by a promise.
Even though, we should applaud for the trend that the government pays more attention on better service. We need to push and supervise them and give suggestions.
My first suggestion is to open an online approval way. That means the applicants can submit materials, consult with the official, and know the update of the process through website. That eliminates the need for the applicant to go to the office by person and save time and paper.
My second suggestion is to shorten the legitimate time period of examination. That is the most direct and effective way. Now, the applicant needs to wait for almost one year from a formal application to issuance of certificate in event of no dispute is involved. That is too slow and there is wide space to squeeze the time. Undoubtedly, the officials will bring about difficulties like no sufficient staff or lack of cooperation mechanism, but that is the problem they need to solve, not the public’s concern. Only with a new law and regulation, will the office be pushed ahead.
We look forward a good result and hope that promise will be realized in a near future.
By Mike