What are the inevitable risks and countermeasures during the trademark registration process
1. There is a danger of blindness in trademark searches!
As we all know, trademarks applied for registration by enterprises or individuals cannot be related to If the registered or preliminary approved trademark of others on the same or similar goods is identical or similar, otherwise the trademark registration application will be rejected by the Trademark Office and the application shall not be allowed. Therefore, before submitting a trademark registration application to the Trademark Office, applicants often use various methods to check whether the trademark they want to register is identical or similar, which to a certain extent ensures a higher probability of success for the trademark.
But many applicants do not know that even in the trademark Searching on the Bureau's website does not mean that they are not identical or similar. This is because there is a "blind period" problem in trademark searches. The blind period of trademark search results in the incompleteness and lag of the prior trademark information. No one can query the prior trademark information during the blind period. Therefore, the trademark applied for registration by an enterprise or individual may be different from the trademark registered in the blind period. The same or similar risks arise with earlier trademarks during the period.
2. Approximate judgment is subjectiveAttention!
Whether the trademark is similar to the successful trademark registration Whether a trademark is similar or not plays a decisive role, but whether a trademark is similar cannot be judged by a machine or program, but is independently reviewed and determined by the examiners of the Trademark Office in accordance with the "Trademark Examination Guidelines" and related standards. Due to the different examiners' professional and knowledge There are certain differences in face, work experience, sense of responsibility, etc., so the approximate judgment of a trademark will inevitably be affected by the examiner’s subjective factors.
In addition, the industries involved in the different categories of trademark registration The nature, characteristics of goods and services are different, so the examiners of each category have different grasp of the examination standards. According to the situation, the Trademark Office will temporarily allocate some examiners to support other examination categories with excessive backlog of documents, which will cause certain The degree of review standards varies, thus affecting the success rate of trademark registration.
In addition, the standards for trademark review will change with the It changes with the changing times, and every change will inevitably affect the trademark examiner's judgment of similar trademarks. In general, trademark examination is a highly subjective task, so the risks brought by the trademark examiner's subjective judgment on trademark registration are unavoidable.
3. Objections during the announcement period Risk alert!
my country's "Trademark Law" stipulates that application Registered trademarks are registered through the Trademark OfficeThere is a three-month announcement period after the preliminary review. Within three months from the date of announcement, prior rights holders, interested parties and other relevant persons can raise objections to the trademark in accordance with relevant legal provisions.
Within the three-month announcement period, the prior Rights holders or interested parties may raise objections due to well-known trademark protection, trademark preemption, similar trademarks, prior application, etc. In addition, anyone can object to the Trademark Office for reasons such as the trademark does not have distinctive features.
Once a trademark is opposed, the opposed trademark will be entered In the long opposition procedure, after receiving the objection, the Trademark Office will ask the applicant to respond, and then make a decision on whether to approve based on the materials. If you are not satisfied with the Trademark Office's objection ruling, you can further review the trademark objection until court litigation.
Trademark objection is a right granted by law to citizens and businesses. Any Anyone can file an objection as long as they have basic subject qualifications and appropriate reasons. Therefore, in addition to enterprises or individuals safeguarding their own legitimate interests, the occurrence of trademark objections may also be a means of malicious competition by competitors. In this regard, the announcement The risk of dissent during the period is also very high.
Three tips to teach you how to deal with
The above risks are objective during the trademark registration process Enterprises and individuals cannot easily and completely overcome the risks that exist on their own, but this does not mean that we can only resign ourselves to fate. During the operation, we can improve them through some methods, reduce trademark registration risks, and increase the success rate.
1. Register in time to be stronger
China's trademark registration follows the "first-to-file principle", that is to say, trademarks are first registered, first served. Therefore, once an enterprise or individual determines a trademark name when establishing a company or launching a new product, it must Be the first to start and register as soon as possible.
2. Choose the name carefully and conduct extensive screening to ensure significance
In order to minimize the risks in trademark registration, it is very important to learn to name the trademark and ensure the novelty, originality and distinctiveness of the trademark name. When naming the trademark, the applicant shall not register other people's trademarks or use trademarks. Don't imitate well-known trademarks, avoid using descriptive words and common vocabulary, and try to use original words as trademarks, which will greatly reduce the risk of being rejected due to similarity.
In addition, expanding the scope and careful screening during the inquiry stage before trademark registration is also an important method to reduce registration risks. After clarifying your product or service category, and after comparing and screening similar trademarks in each group of this category, you should also pay attention to similar products in different categories.
3. The trademark agency you choose must be professional and reliable
Most companies and individuals choose agencies for trademark registration because of their professional background and rich experience. Experience can minimize the risks of trademark registration.
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