1. How long does it usually take to register a trademark?
It takes about nine months time.
Legal basis: Article 28 of the Trademark Law of the People's Republic of China. For a trademark applied for registration, the Trademark Office shall start from the date of receipt of the trademark registration application document. If the review is completed within nine months and meets the relevant provisions of this Law, a preliminary review and announcement will be made.
Article 29: During the review process, if the Trademark Office believes that the content of the trademark registration application needs explanation or correction, it may require the applicant to make explanations or corrections. If the applicant fails to make explanations or corrections, it will not affect the Trademark Office’s examination decision.
Article 30: Any trademark applied for registration that does not comply with the relevant provisions of this Law or has been registered or preliminarily approved with others for the same or similar goods If the trademarks are identical or similar, the Trademark Office will reject the application and will not publish it.
Article 31 Two or more trademark registration applicants apply for the same or similar trademarks on the same goods or similar goods. For registration, the trademark previously applied for will be preliminarily reviewed and announced; for applications filed on the same day, the trademark previously used will be preliminarily reviewed and announced, and applications from others will be rejected and will not be announced.
Article 32: Application for trademark registration shall not damage the existing prior rights of others, nor shall it be used to preemptively register others that have already used it and have certain influence by unfair means. 's trademark.
2. Registration process
1. Registration preparation
Select the registration method
One is to apply for registration at the Trademark Office of the State Administration for Industry and Commerce; the other is to entrust an experienced trademark agency to organize agency services.
2. Prepare materials
Prepare 10 trademark drawings (for color trademarks of designated colors, 10 colored drawings and 1 black and white ink draft should be submitted), The length and width should not be greater than 10 centimeters and not less than 5 centimeters. If the direction of the trademark pattern is unclear, arrows should be used to indicate the upper and lower parts; if an individual applies, he or she must present his or her ID card and submit a copy, plus a copy of the individual business license and business scope. It is consistent with the registered trademark; if it is an enterprise application, present a copy of the enterprise's "Business License" and submit a copy; a trademark registration application form with the company's official seal.
3 , Start applying
4. Submit an application according to the classification of goods and services
Currently, goods and Services are divided into 45 categories, including 34 categories of goods and 11 categories of services. When applying for registration, the category of goods or services for which the trademark is used should be determined according to the classification of the goods and services classification table; the same applicant uses it on different categories of goods For the same trademark, registration applications should be submitted according to different categories.
5. Determination of the application date
This is the most important point: Since China's trademark registration adopts the first-to-file principle, once you have a dispute over trademark rights with other companies, the company with the first filing date will be protected by law. Therefore, it is very important to establish the filing date. The date shall be the date when the Trademark Office receives the application.
The next step is the three procedures of trademark examination, preliminary examination announcement, and registration announcement. It needs to be emphasized that, A trademark that has passed the preliminary review by the Trademark Office can be registered only if no one raises any objection three months after the announcement. The trademark is protected by law. The validity period of a registered trademark is ten years, calculated from the date of approval of registration. Validity period If it is full and needs to continue to use it, you can apply for trademark renewal registration.
6. Receive the trademark registration certificate
After the trademark is registered, the Trademark Office issues a certificate to the registrant.
If it is organized through an agency, the agent will send the "Trademark Registration Certificate" to the registrant. 》; If registering directly, the registrant should receive the "Go to the Trademark Office to get the certificate within three months after receiving the "Notice of Trademark Registration Certificate". At the same time, you should also bring: a letter of introduction for obtaining the trademark registration certificate, the ID card of the person who received it and a copy, an original copy of the business license and the seal of the local industrial and commercial department. A copy of the stamp, a notice of receipt of the trademark registration certificate, and a change certificate issued by the industrial and commercial department must be attached if the name of the trademark registrant is changed.
Note: It usually takes about one to three and a half years from application to issuance of a newly applied trademark, of which application acceptance and formal review take about one month. , the substantive review takes about 24 to 30 months, the objection period is three months, and the approval announcement to the issuance of the certificate takes about 2 months.
In life, we often choose to buy things with trademarks. Some products with no trademark or three trademarks have no desire to buy or feel unsafe. In fact, the initial function of a trademark is very simple, which is to distinguish goods from other goods. Trademarks are still important to every founder, and the trademark registration process can take around nine months. I hope the above content can be helpful to you. If you have other questions, you can click the button below for consultation, or go to the Legal Savior website to consult a professional lawyer.