Trademarks are intangible assets of a company, and the value of a good trademark is unlimited. Due to the long registration period, trademark transfer has become a convenient method chosen by many companies. The transferred trademark can be one that has a mass base and a certain degree of influence, or of course it can be a newly registered trademark that has been approved recently. But whether it is newly registered or has a mass base, because it has been successfully registered, it will save a lot of risks during registration. Therefore, for enterprises, it is more time-saving and labor-saving to choose to transfer their trademarks. Although there are unknowns, as long as you make good use of it, the value is unlimited. So can a corporate trademark be transferred to an individual?
According to my country’s Trademark Law and relevant legal provisions, a company’s trademark can be transferred to an individual, who will hold the trademark. It takes about 10 months to complete the trademark transfer. The entire process includes application, acceptance, review, announcement, and issuance of transfer certificate. Article 42 of the Trademark Law states that when a registered trademark is transferred, the transferor and the transferee shall sign a transfer agreement and file an application with the Trademark Office at the same time. The transferee shall ensure the quality of the goods using the registered trademark. When transferring a registered trademark, the trademark registrant shall transfer all similar trademarks registered on the same goods, or identical or similar trademarks registered on similar goods. For transfers that are likely to cause confusion or have other adverse effects, the Trademark Office will not approve the transfer and will notify the applicant in writing and explain the reasons. After the transfer of a registered trademark is approved, it will be announced. The assignee shall enjoy the exclusive right to use the trademark from the date of announcement.
Supplement: Paragraph 2 of Article 25 of the "Trademark Law" stipulates: "When a registered trademark is transferred, the trademark registrant shall pay for the same or similar trademark registered on the same or similar goods. transferred together." Applications for transfer of registered trademarks should not cause misunderstanding, confusion or other adverse effects. Otherwise, the application for trademark transfer will not be approved by the Trademark Office.
According to Article 41 of the Trademark Law, “If a registered trademark needs to change the name, address or other registration matters of the registrant, a change application shall be submitted.” If the business license and address of the transferor are changed, However, if the trademark change procedure has not been completed, after submitting the trademark transfer application, the Trademark Office will require corrections on time. If corrections are not made by the time limit or are not made as required, the transfer will not be approved or deemed to be abandoned. The information on the business license needs to be consistent with the information on the trademark certificate. Therefore, if the business license or address of the transferor changes, the address or company name on the trademark registration certificate should be changed at the same time. Failure to do so will result in a trademark transfer application. was dismissed. In addition, the seals or signatures of both parties to the transfer and transfer must match the seals or signatures used when applying for a trademark.
To sum up, corporate trademarks can be transferred to individuals, but the transferred trademark must be used in a reasonable and standardized way to protect the trademark rights, otherwise there will still be a risk of invalidation.