Are registered trademarks protected by law during the renewal period?

Renewal of a Registered trademark refers to the procedure in which the trademark registrant goes through the registration procedures with the trademark registration authority before the expiration of the validity period in order to extend the legal validity of the registered trademark. After the trademark registration authority approves the registration and announcement, the trademark registrant continues to maintain the legal validity of the registered trademark. So, are registered trademarks protected by law during the renewal period? The editor of Legal Savior Network will give you detailed answers.

Are registered trademarks protected by law during the renewal period

The exclusive right of a registered trademark has a time limit, not once Sign up for unlimited exclusive use. The validity period of a registered trademark is the period of effective protection of the registered trademark by law. Article 39 of the Trademark Law stipulates: "The validity period of a registered trademark is ten years, calculated from the date of approval of registration." During this period, the trademark owner enjoys the exclusive right to his registered trademark, and others are not allowed to use it illegally, otherwise Trademark owners can request legal protection. In this sense, it can be said that after the validity period of a registered trademark expires, the trademark right will be extinguished, and the original trademark owner can no longer request legal protection if his registered trademark is infringed.

However, according to Article 40 of the Trademark Law, the trademark owner has the right to renew the registered trademark. After the trademark owner fulfills the statutory procedures within the statutory period, he can continue to enjoy the exclusive right after the expiration of the registered trademark, so that the registered trademark continues to be protected by law. The period stipulated by law for trademark owners to renew registered trademarks is called the renewal period, which consists of two parts:

First, six months before the expiration of the registered trademark months. If the trademark owner needs to continue to use the registered trademark, he should apply for renewal of registration within this period;

Second, six months after the expiration of the registered trademark , also known as the extension period, if the trademark owner fails to apply for renewal within six months before the expiration of the registered trademark, he can still go through the renewal procedures. In other words, the renewal period of a registered trademark is the period during which the trademark owner applies to extend the validity period of his registered trademark, which is also the period during which he applies for continued legal protection of his registered trademark. After the renewal application is approved, the registered trademark will continue to be protected by law from the day after the original validity period expires; if the renewal application is ultimately rejected, the trademark right will be extinguished from the expiration of the registered trademark validity period. Therefore, there will be a special period between the expiration of the registered trademark and whether the renewal application is approved, during which the exclusive right to use the registered trademark is in an uncertain state.

Legal protection of registered trademarks during the renewal period

The legal effect of a registered trademark during the renewal period can be summarized as the following basic points:

First, if you apply for renewal during the validity period of a registered trademark, , whether it is approved before the expiration of the validity period, during the extension period or after the expiration of the extension period, the registered trademark is continuously valid. The validity period of the renewed registration is calculated from the day after the expiration of the previous validity period, and the law continues to protect it. , any illegal use of the registered trademark shall constitute infringement.

Second, if an application for renewal is made during the extension period, the original trademark owner shall request processing of the renewal. People's courts and industrial and commercial administrative agencies should not accept infringements of registered trademarks before application. Even if subsequent renewal applications are approved, the original trademark owner has no right to claim damages for infringements that occurred before the application was filed within the extension period. .

Third, if the renewal application within the validity period or extension period of the registered trademark is not approved, the exclusive right to use the registered trademark will be from the date of expiration. Extinction. The original trademark owner shall not request legal protection on the grounds that others have infringed upon the registered trademark.

Fourth, between the expiration of the validity period and the final rejection of the renewal application , if others infringe upon a registered trademark, the renewal applicant has the right to request the People's Court, the industrial and commercial administration or other competent departments to protect the registered trademark. The competent authority shall file a case or accept the case and provide advance protection, but for requests for compensation of losses, The decision should be made after it is determined whether the renewal application has been approved.

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