1. What are the review regulations for trademark registration?
A. Formal review
Formal review is also called written review, which is mainly conducted to review whether the application materials are qualified.
Contents of formal review:
a. Review whether the applicant’s qualifications are legal;
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b. Whether the trademark registration application is filled out in a standardized manner;
c. It complies with the regulations and is filled in Whether the trademark classification is accurate;
d. Whether the applicant's address is correct;
e. Application Whether the name and seal are the same as those on the business license;
f. Whether the writing requirements are met.
If the application procedures are incomplete or the application documents are not filled in as required, the application will be returned and the application date will not be retained. The application procedures are basically complete or the application form basically complies with the regulations, but needs to be supplemented and corrected. If the applicant makes corrections and returns them to the Trademark Office within the prescribed time limit, the application date will be retained. If a supplement or correction is requested but is not made or the supplement or correction exceeds the time limit, it will also be returned and the application date will not be retained.
After passing the formal inspection, it will automatically enter the substantive examination stage of the trademark.
B. Substantive examination
The substantive inspection is very detailed, to conduct inspection, retrieval, analysis and comparison, investigation and research on the legality of trademarks, and accordingly conduct a series of tasks for preliminary approval or rejection. If the application passes the substantive examination, the Trademark Office will make a preliminary decision to approve the registration and issue a preliminary approval announcement.
Trademark substantive examination is a key step in determining whether a trademark can obtain the exclusive right to use it.
Substantive examination includes:
1. Whether the trademark violates the prohibition provisions of the trademark law;
2. Whether the trademark has legal components and whether it has distinctive features;
3. Whether the trademark is confused with the trademark registered by others on the same or similar goods;
4. Whether the trademark is the same as the trademark that was applied for earlier and has been revoked, invalid and Registered trademarks less than one year old are the same.
Legal basis: Article 11 of the "Trademark Law" The following signs shall not be registered as trademarks: only the common name, graphics, model of the product... If the trademarks have different words and graphics, but the arrangement and combination or the overall description of things are basically the same, making the overall appearance or meaning of the trademarks similar and likely to cause the relevant public to misunderstand the source of the goods or services, they will be determined to be similar trademarks.
Legal basis: Article 3 of the "Trademark Law" A trademark approved and registered by the Trademark Office is a registered trademark, including product trademarks, service marks and...Applicant The geographical scope of production of goods marked with geographical indications should be confirmed in the certificate issued by the industry authorities at or above the provincial level. The geographical scope does not need to be completely consistent with the name and scope of the current administrative division in the region.
2. What is the daily working status of an ordinary trademark examiner?
The first thing the examiner does every day when he comes to work is to check whether there are red, yellow or other trademark reminders that have exceeded the review limit in the review system, and whether there are any tweets and other tasks that need to be processed as soon as possible. If a doubtful trademark is encountered during the examination process, the examiners can discuss with each other or use the three-level regular meeting system and form minutes and issue them to each examiner to ensure the consistency and authority of the examination standards.
Some of the trademarks examined by the examiner are text, some are in English, prefixes, and graphics, and some are three-dimensional logos, sounds, or color trademarks, and some are uncomplicated words and prefixes. A trademark can be reviewed in 20 minutes. For complex trademarks, especially graphic trademarks, the examiner has to compare many trademarks with the same elements. It takes several hours to review thousands or even tens of thousands of similar graphics.
The examiner’s knowledge must be broad, otherwise trademarks with adverse effects may escape. For example, some people use some very “dirty” hometown names. The homophony of the word is used to register a trademark.
3. What should you pay attention to when registering a trademark?
1 , Trademark registration must be inquired in advance
This is very necessary. But it doesn’t mean that if you check it in advance, you will definitely be approved for registration, because there is a blind search period for trademark registration. In other words, during this period, the trademark registration is in the blind search period. The trademark cannot be found. However, prior inquiries can improve the success rate of trademark registration applications to a certain extent and avoid unnecessary losses.
2. Keep confidentiality before trademark application
Keeping confidentiality before trademark registration is to prevent the trademark from being Others have preemptively registered the trademark, because once a trademark is preemptively registered, companies that want to regain the trademark usually have to file an objection or invalidation request with the Trademark Office, which is very difficult.
3. Search well before trademark design and registration
Have done research on similar or similar products Conduct a comprehensive search of registered and under-examination trademarks to avoid having your own trademarks rejected due to duplication, similarity, or similarity. Reduce the chance of trademark registration being rejected.
4. It is best to register trademarks separately
Because for combined trademarks, any If some do not meet the requirements, all trademarks will be returned.
In our daily lives, most people do not have a special understanding of some regulations regarding trademarks, mainly because they have not often experienced these matters. When applying for a trademark, you mustA certain amount of review is required, including formal review and substantive review. 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.