Canceling trademarks of non-use for three consecutive years is a procedure that plays a vital role in the Trademark Law. Every country has a similar or the same procedure where it targets for removing non-use trademarks and urging the trademark owners to use their trademarks positively. Though the purpose of this procedure is the same, there are some differences in practice. This article takes canceling non-use trademarks in Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan for examples to simply analyze similarities and differences of this procedure.
What is the procedure of Canceling Trademarks of Non-use for Three Consecutive Years? 
From the names of the procedure, we can see that the object is trademarks that have been registered for three years at least, and trademark owners haven’t used the trademark for three consecutive years.
Here are relevant articles for this procedure in four areas. We can learn from the materials that in mainland China and Hong Kong, the procedure names Revocation or Cancellation. In Macau, it is called Invalidation, and it is Abolition in Taiwan. 
Paragraph 2, Article 49 of China Trademark Law
Where a registered trademark refers to the Generic Name of its approved goods or wasn’t used for three consecutive years without proper reasons, any person or entity may apply to the Trademark Office for canceling that registered trademark. The Trademark Office shall decide within nine months after receiving the application. Where the period of handling needs to be extended due to special situations, with the approval of the State Administration for Industry & Commerce, three extra months may be extended.
Paragraph 2a, Article 52 of 559 Trade Marks Ordinance in Hong Kong
The registration of a trademark may be revoked if the trademark has not been genuinely used in Hong Kong by the owner or with his consent, in relation to the goods or services for which it is registered, for a continuous period of at least 3 years, and there are no valid reasons for non-use (such as import restrictions on, or other governmental requirements for, goods or services protected by the trademark); 
Article 231 of the Industrial Property Legal System in Macau
The trademark registration will be invalid if not using a trademark genuinely for three consecutive years, except for reasonable reasons; 
Article 63 of the Trademark Act in Taiwan
The Registrar Office shall, ex officio or upon an application, revoke the registration of a trademark if such trademark has not yet been put to use or such use has been suspended for a continuous period of not less than three years without proper reasons for non-use, unless the trademark has been put to use by a licensee;
The trademark registration shall not be revoked on the ground prescribed in Subparagraph 2 of Paragraph 1 if such use as in referred to in that subparagraph is commenced or resumed before the application for revocation is filed, unless any such commencement or resumption of use within three months before the filing of the application is because the proprietor became aware that the application might be filed. 
How to start the procedure in four areas?
The applicant should start the procedure before the department in charge, such as the National Intellectual Property Administration in Mainland China, Registry of Trade Marks in Hong Kong. We summarize what the applicant most concerned about below. 
1. Mainland China
Department in charge: National Intellectual Property Administration, PRC
When to start: three years at least from the registration date
Who can start: Any entity or individual
Required documents: Application form; Power of attorney; Identification document (with translation); Print page of the information of registered trademarks
Period of examination: Nine months
Official fee: 500 CNY
Way of submission: Off-line 
2. Hong Kong
Department in charge: Registry of Trade Marks
When to start: The 3-year period may begin at any time on or after the actual date on which particulars of the trademarks were entered in the register.
Who can start: Anyone
Required documents: T6 form; Relative evidence
Period of examination: It depends on the speed of submission of the evidence from two parties, which is about two years.
Official fee: 800 HKD
Way of submission: Can be submitted online and it should be copied to another party. 
3. Macau
Department in charge: Economic Bureau
When to start: three years at least from the registration date
Who can start: Any interested party
Required documents: Notarized power of attorney; the Request form; Declaration of invalidation
Period of examination: Five months
Official fee: 800 MOP
Way of submission: Off-line 
4. Taiwan
Department in charge: Intellectual Property Office of Ministry of Economic Affairs
When to start: three years at least from the registration date
Who can start: Any entity or individual
Required documents: Declaration of abolition; Power of attorney; Relative evidence
Period of examination: Six months
Official fee: 7000 TWD
Way of submission: Off-line 
From the above, we can see that the 3-year period may begin at any time on or after the registration date. If the applicant wants to cancel a registered trademark whose registration date is 3 May 2016, the applicant can begin to file the request on 3 May, 2019, claiming that the owner didn’t use the trademark from 3 May 2016 to 3 May, 2019.
Compared with Hong Kong and Taiwan, in mainland China and Macau, the applicant is not required to submit the evidence (such as market investigation report) to support the application of cancellation. But in Macau, the applicant should notarize the power of attorney, which undoubtedly increases the cost and difficulty. Thus, it is most convenient for applicants to start the procedure in Mainland China. 
As the quantity of trademark applications in China increases year by year, trademark resources become increasingly scarce. Many earlier trademark owners don’t apply for trademark removal in time when stopping using the registered trademarks or abandoning their registrations. To clear the obstacle for the latter trademark applicants, canceling non-use trademarks for three consecutive years has become a conventional supplementary means in trademark review for refusal. 
The requirements to use evidence in four areas 
Submitting evidence targets for the trademark registers. After receiving the notification of cancellation, the trademark registers should respond with qualified evidence within the deadline, or the registered trademarks will lose protection in that area. 
In general, the purpose of using evidence is to prove that the trademark owner or the licensee and assignee had used the trademark in commerce within those three years.
From the evidence-science perspective, the evidence types in civil action like documentary evidence, physical evidence, digital evidence and testimonial evidence can also be used in the cancellation procedure. In practice, the main evidence types are documentary evidence, physical evidence and digital evidence. The requirements for the form of proof are different for goods and services. So what can be used as evidence?
Examples of use evidence on goods 
(1) The trademark is affixed to the goods, packaging of goods, containers, labels, etc., or applied to the appending labels, product description manual, introduction manual, price list, etc., through direct affixing, imprinting, stamping or weaving, etc.
(2) The trademark is used in transaction documents relating to the sale of goods, including sales contracts, invoices, bills, receipts, quality inspection certificates, customs clearance bills, etc.
(3) The trademark is used in advertisements and promotions through media such as broadcasting, TV, printed publications, billboards, mail advertisements, etc.
(4) The trademark is used in exhibitions or trade fairs.　　
Examples of use evidence on services 
(1)  The trademark is directly used in the service premises, e.g., the introduction pamphlet, the receptions, the decoration of the premises, the clothing of the staff, posters, menus, price lists, lotteries, office stationery, letterheads, etc.
(2)  The trademark is used on documents related to the services, such as invoices, bank documents, service contracts, after-sales maintenance certificates, etc.
(3)  The trademark is used in advertisements and promotions through media such as broadcasting, TV, printed publications, billboards, mail advertisements, etc.
(4)  The trademark is used in exhibitions or trade fairs. 
Conclusion:
The use evidence is included but not limited to the listed above. The department in charge examines the use evidence case by case. They will consider the connection of each evidence and whether the use evidence is sufficient to prove the use in the whole. It is difficult to reach the level of examination if the owner just provides the goods sale contracts or agreement of delivering the service, single physical sample or duplicate. Whether the chain of evidence is complete and whether the quantity of evidence is sufficient to qualify as normal commercial use should be verified via experience. Because the deadline to respond is short and it is hard for the owner to collect the complete and multi-type use evidence in a short period, so the loss of trademark rights is therefore regrettable.
We highly recommend owners use trademarks continuously after obtaining the right. Meanwhile, owners should keep the use evidence well, which can be called “I own the trademark” in real sense.
 
Reference：
https://www.elegislation.gov.hk/hk/cap559!en-sc?INDEX_CS=N&xpid=ID_1438403443539_004
https://bo.io.gov.mo/bo/i/99/50/codrjpicn/codrjpi201.asp    
http://www.macautm.com/?a=newsshow&id=72 
https://law.moj.gov.tw/ENG/LawClass/LawAll.aspx?pcode=J0070001 
http://sbj.cnipa.gov.cn/sbsq/sqzn/201808/t20180813_275533.html
http://spw.sbj.cnipa.gov.cn/fwtx/201908/t20190826_306252.html
https://www.ipd.gov.hk/chi/intellectual_property/trademarks/registry/WM_Evidence_c.pdf