What should I pay attention to when trading food trademarks?

When many enterprises buy food trademarks, they don't know how to choose food industry trademarks. What should I pay attention to when trading food trademarks? Next, let's take a look with Bajie Xiaobian.

China implements the principle of "application first" in trademark registration. Generally speaking, it means first come first served. Whoever applies for trademark registration first will get the exclusive right to use the trademark. The following points are the matters needing attention in trademark trading of food trademarks compiled by Bajie Trademark Trading Network for everyone.

1. Can a trademark without a trademark certificate be bought or sold?

Trademarks that have submitted applications and received acceptance notices but have not been approved for registration can be applied for sale. However, unregistered trademarks may have the risk of being rejected. If a trademark is sold, the risk will be transferred from the transferor to the transferee.

2. Know the legal status of the trademark beforehand

Analyze the validity, service life, licensing, pledge or freezing, and repeated transfer of the trademark respectively.

1. Is the bought and sold trademark a valid trademark

When you find a favorite trademark and want to buy it, you should first check whether the legal status of the trademark is valid on the official website of the Trademark Office to find out whether the trademark exists, is revoked or is cancelled.

2. Check the service life of the trademark

Article 39 of the Trademark Law stipulates that "the validity period of a registered trademark is ten years, counting from the date of approval of registration." Article 4 stipulates that "if a registered trademark needs to be used continuously after its expiration, the trademark registrant shall go through the renewal procedures in accordance with the regulations within 12 months before its expiration;" If it fails to be handled during this period, a six-month extension period may be granted. The validity period of each renewal registration is ten years, counting from the day after the last expiration of the trademark. If the renewal procedures are not completed at the expiration of the period, the registered trademark shall be cancelled. "

both parties should remember to put forward the obligation to renew the trademark in the contract when buying and selling the trademark in the renewal or extension period. If the trademark has passed the grace period, then the sale of the trademark cannot be approved.

3. Licensing of buying and selling trademarks

The transferee should know whether the transferor has licensed the trademark to other companies before buying and selling the trademark. According to Article 2 of the Interpretation on Several Issues Concerning the Application of Laws in the Trial of Trademark Civil Disputes, "the sale of registered trademarks does not affect the validity of the trademark license contract that has come into effect before the sale, except as otherwise stipulated in the trademark license contract." That is, after a trademark is bought and sold, the licensee can continue to use the trademark within the validity period of the license contract, which will adversely affect the transferee who buys and sells the trademark. For the sale of trademarks licensed to others in advance, it is best for the transferee and transferee to reach an agreement on this issue to avoid unnecessary troubles in the future.

4. Is the trademark pledged or frozen

Before buying and selling, the transferee needs to pay attention to whether the bought and sold trademark has been pledged or frozen. A trademark sealed up by the people's court and a trademark registered as pledge shall not be traded without the consent of the people's court and the pledgee during the period of sealing up and pledge.

5. Has the trademark been repeatedly bought and sold

In order to defraud the high trademark buying and selling fees, some lawless elements cheat the assignee who is eager to obtain the trademark certificate by repeatedly buying and selling trademarks. Therefore, the transferee needs to investigate the authenticity of the trademark registration certificate provided by the transferor and whether the transferor is a trademark registrant and whether the name of the transferor is consistent with the name of the applicant on the official website of the Trademark Office.

III. Identical or similar trademarks shall be bought and sold together

Paragraph 2 of Article 25 of the Trademark Law stipulates: "Where a registered trademark is bought and sold, the trademark registrant shall transfer the identical or similar trademarks registered on the same or similar goods together". The application for buying and selling registered trademarks should not cause misunderstanding, confusion or other adverse effects.

otherwise, the application for trademark trading will not be approved by the Trademark Office.

iv. Whether the relevant certification documents of both parties to the transfer are valid

1. Both parties to the transfer provide valid information

If both parties are companies, they need to provide valid business licenses to show that the company is operating normally. If both parties or one party is an individual, a valid copy of ID card is required. If an enterprise cancels or an individual dies and fails to go through the trademark trading procedures within one year from the date of cancellation or death, it can no longer go through the trademark trading procedures, and its trademark ownership naturally disappears.

2. The unsynchronized change of the address of the trademark and the name of the enterprise will lead to the rejection of the sale of the trademark

According to Article 41 of the Trademark Law, "if a registered trademark needs to change the name, address or other registered items of the registrant, an application for change shall be filed." If the transferor's business license and address have been changed, but the trademark change procedures have not been completed, the Trademark Office will request to make corrections on schedule after submitting the application for the sale of trademarks. If it fails to make corrections within the time limit or fails to make corrections as required, the transfer will be rejected or deemed to be abandoned. The information in the business license needs to be consistent with the information in the trademark certificate. Therefore, if the business license or address of the transferor is changed, the address or enterprise name on the trademark registration certificate should be changed at the same time. Failure to do so will lead to the rejection of the trademark trading application. In addition, the stamp or signature of the transferee and transferee should be consistent with the stamp or signature when applying for the trademark.

v. whether to submit a notarial certificate?

In the current practice of trademark transfer, the Trademark Office no longer requires the submission of notarial certificates of sale and purchase. When the examiner thinks that the transferor's signature or official seal is inconsistent with the application or there are other doubts when examining the sale, he will issue a notice of correction and request to submit a notarial certificate. It is best to go to the notary office to notarize the declaration of trademark trading, especially the notarization of transfer due to trademark trading. Notarization can prove that the transferor's intention is true and the subject qualification is qualified, which is conducive to protecting the legitimate rights and interests of the trademark buyer and enhancing the trust of both parties. Through notarization, we can promote the honesty and credibility of notarized parties in the trade of trademarks, prevent fraud and false transfer, and avoid losses as much as possible, so as to protect the legitimate rights and interests of both parties and avoid unnecessary disputes.

The above are the matters that should be paid attention to in the trade of food trademarks brought by Bajie Xiaobian. Intellectual property provides trademark transfer service, which is the largest trademark transfer platform of trademark trading network. Buying trademarks saves trademark registration time and buying and selling trademarks.