Single-country registration, EU registration, Madrid registration, and African Intellectual Property Organization registration.
The following is a brief introduction to these four registration methods:
1. Single-country registration
If the registration application is within five countries, it is recommended to register through a single country, which is more cost-effective.
A) Review principle, use the first-priority principle or the first-to-registration principle, or the protection principle that combines the two.
B) Regarding the review process, some countries issue the registration certificate first and then announce it, while others, like our country, announce it first and then issue the certificate.
There are two processes: 1. Application - acceptance - review - approval and certification - announcement. 2. Application - acceptance - review - announcement - approval and issuance of certificates.
C) Regarding the review time, the review time is generally about 6-12 months or 12-24 months. Of course, the shortest review time is 1-2 months. Lebanon, and is valid for 15 years after registration; the longest is about 5 years in Cyprus; and 36-48 months in Bangladesh; to register in the latter two countries, you need to plan five years in advance.
D) Regarding application and fees, some countries apply in one form and one category, and some countries apply in one form and multiple categories, each accounting for almost 50%, but Regardless of how many categories you apply for and whether you use one application form or multiple applications, you must pay the fee according to the category. It's just that in a few countries, the billing starting from the second category is different from the first category. There are also a very few countries that charge based on groups and the actual number of goods.
F) Regarding the validity of the rights, if there is no objection during the announcement period or the objection is not established, the registration is completed; the trademark rights will take effect from the date of approval of registration.
G) Regarding the validity period, in some countries it is 10 years from the date of application or 10 years from the date of registration, while in a few countries it is 7 years from the date of application or from the date of registration. 7 years. (Among them, Myanmar is valid for 3 years and must be renewed three years from the date of application; Bangladesh is valid for 7 years from the date of registration, but the validity period is 15 years after renewal; Pakistan andThe validity period in Cyprus is 7 years from the date of application and 14 years after renewal. )
2. EU trademark registration
A) Fees:
B) The fees for the above plan include all costs for the trademark registration application if the registration is successfully completed without encountering any obstacles. If any problems occur during the application process, such as rejection review, response to official opinions, or objections and other unexpected events, the agency company will report it in a timely manner. If the applicant company confirms that it agrees to take corresponding legal measures, it will charge the corresponding foreign lawyer fees. and agency fees.
C) Documents required to apply for registration:
1) Company business license or natural person ID card One copy;
2) Stamp the trademark power of attorney provided by the agency;
3) Stamp the agreement provided by the agency;
4) A clear trademark drawing.
D) List of EU member states:
A total of 27 countries: the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Denmark, Ireland, Greece, Portugal, Spain, Austria, Sweden, Finland, Malta, Cyprus, Poland, Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Bulgaria.
3. Madrid trademark registration
A) Fees:
Madrid trademark international registration fees and agency fees (calculated based on a trademark application in one category, the agency fee is RMB 2,000 for designated protecting countries within five, and an additional RMB 200 for each additional country):
Note: Madrid international registration does not accept inquiries and is valid for 10 years; Madrid registration must be based on domestic registration, that is, the trademark, category, goods/services applied for in international registration and domestic registration , the applicant and the application address must be exactly the same; the pure protocol must be based on acceptance before submission of registration; and the agreement country must be based on registration.Can submit registration. If the registration is successful, the maximum time it takes to complete the Madrid registration is about 18 months. If any problems are encountered during the substantive review process by the trademark authorities of various countries, the agency will promptly report to the client and, with the client's consent, entrust the foreign cooperative agency to take active measures to ensure that the trademark can be successfully registered.
Specified fees: fees charged by national trademark offices;
Basic registration fee: Madrid Trademark Registration International Office fees;
Trademark Office fees: my country National Trademark Office fees;
Our company’s agency fees: An agency fee of 2,000 yuan is charged for one trademark application in one category (within 5 designated countries).
Agency translation fee: a total of RMB 300.
B) Documents required to apply for registration:
1) Company business license or natural person ID card A copy;
2) A copy of the domestic trademark registration certificate (no need to provide if it is not registered in China);
A) Fees:
Note: The African Intellectual Property Organization (OAPI) has 16 member states and the designated language is French. The member countries of the non-knowledge organizations are completely bound by the non-knowledge organizations in the trademark field and do not have independent trademark systems. The trademark application must be submitted to the non-knowledge organization. After the application is accepted, the registrar will conduct a formal review of the application in accordance with the regulations of the relevant departments.Investigation, substantive review. If the application passes the formal examination and substantive examination, it will be approved for registration. The registered trademark shall be published in the official gazette. The announcement period is six months. If there is no objection or the objection is not established, the trademark will be registered. If the examining officer wants to reject the application during the formal examination and substantive examination, the decision must be made after hearing the defense of the applicant or agent, so the applicant can take advantage of this opportunity to respond. If someone raises an objection to a published trademark during the opposition period, the applicant can also make a reply for the examiner to hear. If the applicant is dissatisfied with the objection decision, he can also file a lawsuit in court.
B) Documents required to apply for registration:
1) Company business license or natural person ID card One copy;
2) Stamp the trademark power of attorney provided by the agency;
3) Stamp the agreement provided by the agency;
4) A clear trademark drawing.
C) List of member states of the African Intellectual Property Organization:
The member states of the African Intellectual Property Organization include: Cameroon, Benin, Burkina Faso, Central African Republic, Congo, Chad, Gabon, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Côte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast), Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Senegal, Togo, Equatorial Guinea ( 16 in total).
5. Summary of four international trademark registration methods
A) Query, single-country registration , you can inquire in advance; Madrid International Registration does not accept inquiries; EU International Registration is an inquiry process only after applying for registration.
B) classification, all adopt the Nice classification. However, each country is slightly different based on the actual situation of its own goods or services.
C) Commodity, some countries have quantity restrictions, and some do not.
D) Within and outside the member states, it does not matter whether a single country applies for a member state; Madrid registration must be carried out within the Madrid member states; EU organizations are not limited to applications from their member states. .
F) Domestic registration basis, a single country does not need a domestic registration basis, Madrid requires a domestic registration basis, the EU does not require a domestic registration basis.
G) The process is only different in the announcement or review. Some are reviewed after announcement, and some are announced after review.
H) rejection, rejection by a single country can only be reviewed or abandoned; rejection by Madrid can be transferred to the issuing country; rejection by the EU can also be transferred to the issuing country.
6. The fee composition of foreign-related trademarks
The foreign-related registration fee is divided into two parts. One is the foreign trademark registration fee. /Regional official fees and lawyer agency fees, and the second is agency agency fees. Official fees are the same in foreign countries/regions, but attorney fees vary depending on the size and integrity of each foreign firm. To register a trademark abroad/region, you must entrust a local law firm.
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