How to avoid trademark investment risks

Since the implementation of the new Trademark Law, applying for a trademark has become an investment project, and the number of applications for registration has increased significantly. However, most applicants lack sufficient understanding of some basic common sense about trademarks, or have a sense of luck and blindly invest and apply for trademarks, resulting in a large number of trademark registration applications that have no actual value, no recognition, no distinctiveness, and are inconvenient to use. Therefore, the editor of Legal Savior Network has summarized the answer to this question, and I hope it will be helpful to you.

How to avoid trademark investment risks

To avoid investment risks, pay attention to the following points:

1. When investing in registered trademarks, you should avoid taking chances and do not blindly chase trends or catch up. Popularity. Pay attention to the distinctiveness of the trademark and the need for actual use. Do not apply repeatedly or apply blindly.

2. Avoid trademark registration that is “vulgar and vulgar” The "Three Vulgar" trademark phenomenon of ", kitsch" and "Three Vulgar" trademarks is harmful to socialist morals, easy to mislead the public, and harmful to national dignity and religious beliefs. It does not meet the review standards and cannot be approved.

3. Pay attention to avoid graphic signs such as the national flag that are not allowed to be used in the Trademark Law The national emblem or prohibited application terms are ethnically discriminatory and deceptive.

4. The trademark applied for registration should be identifiable, beautiful and distinctiveCharacteristics, the naming and design of the trademark should conform to the characteristics of the industry, product characteristics, and be easy to use and promote.

5. After the trademark is approved and registered, investors must also Attention should be paid to the issue of “not using a canceled trademark for three consecutive years”.

Inquiry before trademark registration application usually refers to trademark Before a registration applicant applies for a registered trademark, he or she searches for trademark information in order to find out whether there are any prior trademark rights that may conflict with the trademark he or she is applying for. There are two ways to inquire before applying for trademark registration: First, the "China Trademark Network" provides free trademark search information. Anyone can log in to the "China Trademark Network" and click on the "Trademark Search" column to search; second, entrust a subordinate of the State Administration for Industry and Commerce to inquire The Tongda Trademark Service Center conducts trademark searches, but a trademark search fee is required. Only in this way can the risk of trademark registration be avoided as much as possible.

Objective reasons why trademark application risks cannot be avoided

1. The company has just been established and only considers the survival of the company, neglecting to apply for a registered trademark or not having time to apply for a trademark

Many applicants believe that solving the company's survival problems is the most realistic and critical thing when a company is established, and intellectual property rights are something that should be considered only after the company develops. Familiar people don’t know that after the company develops, when they want to apply for registration of the brand they have used, they find that the trademark cannot be registered, resulting in the long-term use of the brand that has been recognized by the relevant public and must be replaced. Even the "WeChat" trademark, which has hundreds of millions of users, was first applied for by others. Later, with the joint efforts of Tencent, the Trademark Office, and the Trademark Review and Adjudication Board, Tencent won back the "WeChat" trademark.

Trademark registration is based on the principle of application and supplemented by the principle of use, so The earliest trademark to apply for registration to the Trademark Office will receive a preliminary approval announcement. The cost of applying for a trademark is not high, but it can protect the enterprise, and the enterprise should put intellectual property rights first.

2. Trademark distinctiveness requirements and applicant’s hopes The name is simple, easy to remember, and easy to associate with the contradiction between the content of the product or service

The most important element of a trademark is distinctiveness. The more original the trademark, the higher the distinctiveness. Only in this way can the trademark be distinguished from different sources of the same or similar goods. Trademark distinctiveness: (1) Refers to the fact that there is no direct expression between the trademark and the designated goods or services, that is, it cannot directly express the function, use, raw materials, quality, price, model, content, etc. of the goods. This is the applicant's This is especially the most common problem for e-commerce companies. (2) The trademark cannot be too simple, such as two letters in ordinary fonts, common geometric patterns, etc. (3) The trademark must be different from the prior trademark, especially the well-known trademark, and no imitation or plagiarism shall be allowed.

For companies, they all love brand names It is simple and easy to remember, and can remind the relevant public of the service content of the trademark. In particular, rapidly developing Internet and e-commerce companies like to use trademark names that lack distinctiveness. For example, the same is true for "Micro Group Buying", which I represent. The brand is well-known, but the road to trademark application can be very difficult.

3. There are many factors that determine the similarity of trademarks. Flexible, examiners have discretion based on laws, regulations and examination standards

There are many examiners in the Trademark Office, and examiners have different cognitive abilities. Therefore, there are different opinions on the judgment of similar trademarks. In addition, trademark examination is conducted on a case-by-case basis. Each trademark has its own characteristics. Just because others have successfully registered it does not mean that one can successfully register it.

For companies, they think that after paying the agency fee and finding a lawyer to represent them, they should be successful. Professional attorneys can rely on their long-term experience in handling cases to tend to review the similarity of trademarks. However, it cannot replace the review opinions of the examiner. Therefore, you must not be too arbitrary in judging the similarity of trademarks. Listen to the opinions of lawyers and weigh the pros and cons.

4. The long trademark review cycle and the contradiction between companies’ immediate use of applied trademarks

Trademark substantive examination is a professional work that requires examining whether a trademark violates legal prohibitions. , whether it lacks distinctiveness, whether it is similar to an earlier trademark, whether it is even related to the previous case, etc. Therefore, it is impossible to review first like Internet domain names and enterprise registration names, and then go through the procedures after passing the review. Therefore, a It takes about nine months from the application for a trademark to the completion of the Trademark Office's review and a preliminary approval announcement or rejection result.

For enterprises, they do not plan their brands in advance and believe that time is money and opportunity. In these nine months, they will put the applied trademark into large-scale use, such as advertising. Fees, printing and packaging, product production, etc., these costs are much higher than the trademark application fee. If the trademark is rejected, the company's early investment may be wasted. More importantly, the company's brand strategic planning may need to be readjusted.

5. The objective existence and legal procedures of the blind period and opposition period of trademark application

It takes about five months from the time a trademark is applied for to be entered into the query system and checked in the query system of the Trademark Office website. Therefore, when querying the trademark, the information from the previous five months cannot be found. Yes, this is called the search blind period, because there are many similar trademarks that are rejected during the blind period.

Even if a trademark passes the review of the Trademark Office and is approved for preliminary approval announcement, the announcement period is three months. Relevant interested parties can raise objections to the trademark during the announcement period. If the reasons and evidence are sufficient, the trademark will still be rejected. Can reject an announced trademark. This is called the opposition period.

This is an objective problem and legal procedure, and it is a risk that no one can avoid.

The above are the answers that the editor has prepared for you on how to avoid trademark investment risks and other related questions. If you still have questions, you can leave a message under the article, or you can enter our website, the lawyers of the Legal Savior Network are waiting for you to provide you with the best answers and the most suitable services.

I believe that after reading the above introduction, you will have a certain understanding of the legal knowledge on how to solve the responsibilities that need to be paid attention to. If you still have some knowledge about this aspect For legal questions, please consult the lawyers on the Legal Savior Network and they will provide you with professional answers.