In recent years, the number of trademark registration applications has increased year by year, reaching more than 2 million last year. Although the trademark review cycle has been shortened after the implementation of the new Trademark Law, it is still as long as nine months, and even if you can successfully obtain the trademark registration certificate, it will take up to a year. At the same time, due to the limitation of the inherent quantity of Chinese characters, those inherent words with better meanings have already been collected by others. Many trademark registration applicants lament that trademark registration is too difficult. In addition to the criteria for judging trademark similarity, there are also some natural minefields in trademark registration itself that cannot be touched.

We all know that Article 10 of the "Trademark Law" is a prohibited clause, which means that if it violates the provisions of Article 10 of the "Trademark Law", it is not allowed to be used as a trademark, let alone registered. Articles 11 and 12 of the Trademark Law prohibit registration. The reason is that registration as a trademark lacks distinctive features and cannot be registered as a trademark. However, if the trademark also contains other distinctive elements, the provisions of Article 11 of the Trademark Law can be overcome and the registration can be approved. The above-mentioned provisions of the Trademark Law are absolute grounds for trademark review. This article mainly discusses the special minefields in Article 10 of the Trademark Law.

1. Examination standards for trademarks containing the prefix "国"

Trademarks that contain the word "中国" or whose first letter is "国" have always been the favorites of applicants. For trademarks For trademarks containing "China", the Trademark Office may directly apply Article 10, Paragraph 1, Item (1) of the Trademark Law. The following standards shall not be used as trademarks: the same country name, national flag, National emblems, national anthems, military flags, military emblems, military songs, medals, etc. that are identical or similar will be rejected.

In addition to the provisions of Article 10 of the "Trademark Law", the Trademark Office of the State Administration for Industry and Commerce has specially issued "Containing "China" and "China" and starting with "?" The "Examination Standards for Trademarks with Chinese Characters" requires that trademarks containing the word "中国" or whose first character is "国" should be scrutinized strictly.

According to this regulation, for trademarks that contain the same or similar words as the name of a Chinese country, the applicant and the applied trademark must meet the following four conditions at the same time before they can be initially reviewed and approved:

1. The applicant's subject qualifications should be established with the approval of the State Council or its authorized agency, and the applicant's name should be registered by the name registration management authority in accordance with the law;

2. The applied trademark is consistent with the applicant's business name or the abbreviation of the name , the abbreviation is approved by the State Council or its authorized agency;

3. There is a close correspondence between the applied trademark and the applicant;

4. The goods or products designated for use by the applied trademark The service scope should be consistent with the approved business scope.

Generally, any trademark application that uses "国字+trademark designated product name" as a trademark, or a trademark containing "国字+trademark designated product name" will be rejected. There is only one exception, that is, if the trademark contains words that are the same as or similar to the name of our country, but the entire trademark is the name of a newspaper, periodical, magazine, or the name of an enterprise or institution registered in accordance with the law, it can be approved.

It can be seen that since trademarks with the prefix "国" can easily make consumers think that their products have been approved by national quality standards and are superior to other similar products, it can easily constitute "exaggerated and deceptive publicity", or create ?Other adverse effects?. Therefore, under normal circumstances, the Trademark Office adopts strict examination standards for trademarks with the prefix "国". For example, as everyone knows, Moutai, the national liquor, has been unsuccessful in nine applications over 10 years. Although it finally passed the review of the Trademark Office, it has already encountered objections from other well-known companies in the liquor industry, and its subsequent status is not good either. optimism.

However, the above provisions do not mean that all trademarks with the word "国" cannot be registered. If the applied trademark contains the prefix "国" but is not "国" + the designated product name of the trademark, it should be treated differently. , if it does not cause consumers to misunderstand the quality characteristics of the product, or harm the market order of fair competition, or produce other adverse effects, or the overall name is the name of a newspaper, periodical, magazine or the name of an enterprise or institution registered in accordance with the law, there is still hope Pass the review of the Trademark Office. In many trademark applications that the author has represented, although the applied trademark contains the word "国", the applied trademark is consistent with the abbreviation or trade name of the applicant's company name, and all of them passed the review of the Trademark Office.

In short, when applying for a trademark with the word "国", you should be careful to avoid falling into a minefield.

2. Review criteria for unauthorized transformation into idioms

Because idioms contain rich traditional culture and have concise and exquisite expressions, they are loved by the majority of applicants. With the development of the market, many applicants are no longer satisfied with directly applying for registration of inherent idioms. Instead, they change the pronunciation, meaning and shape of the idioms, hoping to use the original fixed meaning of the idioms to increase the number of trademark applications. Uniqueness and novelty. From the perspective of originality, the applicant creatively transformed the idiom, so that the transformed idiom has a certain degree of originality and also bears some of the applicant's creative work. At present, my country's existing laws and regulations do not There are no clear provisions on the examination standards for idiom trademarks. However, in judicial practice, there are different ways of handling the review of altered idioms, and the results are also different. But generally strict review standards apply.

Since the act of changing idioms is an irregular use of idioms, it can easily cause consumers, especially primary and secondary school students, to misunderstand specific Chinese characters in idioms, and can easily have adverse social effects. Therefore, most Trademark applications that altered idioms were rejected. For example, the application for registration of "Mei Lun Mei Huan" on Class 12 tires is an irregular use of the idiom "Mei Lun Mei Huan" and was rejected by the Trademark Office after review.

However, if the altered idiom does not cause consumers to associate the word with the original idiom, it may pass the review of the Trademark Office. For example, if "Intelligence Reliance" is applied for registration in service projects such as training and education, the Trademark Office, after review, believes that the trademark is significantly different from the idiom "self-reliance" and will not cause consumers to misunderstand "self-reliance", thereby causing consumers to misunderstand "self-reliance". It will have adverse social impact, so it will be approved for registration.

To sum up, when applying for an idiom trademark, you should be careful not to change the text composition of the idiom without authorization, otherwise you may risk being rejected by the Trademark Office.

3. Examination standards for inconsistency between the enterprise name in the trademark and the applicant

Another situation is that the applied trademark consists of or contains an enterprise name, and the applied trademark contains The included company name is inconsistent with the applicant's subject, and there are substantial differences. For example, the applicant is a natural person and the applied trademark contains the word "company", or the applicant is a limited liability company and the applied trademark contains the word "joint stock company". These situations can easily cause the relevant public to misunderstand the source of the goods or services, and therefore the registration will not be approved.

According to the "Trademark Examination and Trial Standards", the following situations are harmful to socialist morals or have other adverse effects: the trademark consists of or contains a company name, and the name exists with the name of the applicant Substantial differences may easily cause the public to misunderstand the source of goods or services. The enterprise name in this article includes the full name, abbreviation, Chinese name, English name and Chinese pinyin of the name, etc. If the administrative division or geographical name, trade name, industry or business characteristics, and organizational form of the enterprise name contained in the trademark are inconsistent with the applicant's name, it will be determined to be substantially different from the applicant's name.

However, if the organizational form of the business name contained in the trademark is inconsistent with the applicant’s organizational form, but it is consistent with business practices and will not cause confusion among the relevant public about the source of the goods or services, you can be registered. For example, the applicant is A, B, and C Co., Ltd., and the trademark applied for is Company A, B, and C.

Therefore, under normal circumstances, if the company name in the trademark application is inconsistent with the name of the applicant, there is a risk of rejection. This can only be done if it complies with business management regulations and will not cause confusion and misunderstanding among the relevant public about the source of the goods. It is possible to register. Therefore, special attention should be paid to trademark applications that include company names.

To sum up, the most basic function of a trademark is to distinguish the source of goods or services. Trademark applications should follow the principle of good faith and should not have any adverse social impact on my country's politics, economy, culture, and nation. , or cause consumers to misunderstand the functional features and sources of products or services. Considering the current trademark review cycle and the impact on enterprises, applicants should pay special attention when applying for trademarks. Once the above minefield is encountered, the labor, time and cost invested by the trademark applicant will be in vain.