On November 24, 2021, the National Intellectual Property Administration gave the reply to Guangdong Provincial Intellectual Property Office's Request for Instructions on whether "Disputes over Trademark Ownership" as stipulated in Article 62.3 of the Trademark Law includes the Reported Suspected Infringing Trademark that has been Preliminarily Approved and Announced or Objected. The details are as follows:

According to Article 62.3 of the Trademark Law, upon the process of investigating activities suspected of having infringed upon another party’s exclusive right to use a registered trademark, where any dispute arises with respected to the ownership of the trademark, or the right owner files lawsuits of trademark infringement to a People’s Court, the administrative authorities for industry and commerce may suspend the aforesaid process. The proceedings for review shall resume or stop after the causes of the suspension have been eliminated. Rule 81 of the Implementing Regulations of the Trademark Law stipulates that: where the ownership of the registered trademark involved is being tried by the Trademark Office, the Trademark Review and Adjudication Board or the People's Court, and the result of the case may affect the characterization of the case, there is a dispute over the ownership of the trademark as stipulated in Article 62.3 of the Trademark Law. 

For cases where the suspected infringing trademark has been preliminarily approved and announced or is in objection procedure, the trial of the case is generally not suspended because it has not obtained the exclusive right to use the registered trademark. However, considering that the right status of suspected infringing trademarks may have an impact on the characterization of cases, law enforcement departments can decide whether to suspend the investigation of cases according to the actual use of suspected infringing trademarks, objections and other specific cases.

According to this reply, if the suspected infringing trademark is in the process of announcement and objection, and all the materials submitted, such as the actual use of the trademark, are sufficient to affect the characterization of the case, the party under investigation may try to apply to the administrative department for industry and commerce for suspension of investigation.