First of all, let us understand what are the factors that determine the success of trademark registration?

The final success is not determined by the agency’s query results, nor can the results be obtained directly from the Trademark Office’s trademark registration query official website! The role of the agency is to search before trademark application, predict risks, and make timely adjustments. Trademark registration is not 100% successful. During the examination, there is a possibility of failure due to differences in national policies and the individual subjective consciousness of the examiner.

1) The trademark name itself is illegal

The trademark name itself may violate the trademark law and prohibit registration.

The Trademark Law clearly stipulates some situations in which registration is not allowed, such as: Article 10, Article 11, and Article 12 of the Trademark Law clearly list the situations in which registration is not allowed.

For example:

Irregular writing

Directly expresses the function, use and other characteristics of the product

Used as a trademark, it is easy to cause defects Impact

It is easy for relevant consumers to misunderstand the raw materials and other characteristics of the product

The overall lack of distinctive features

2) Trademark search blind period

After submitting a trademark registration application, the staff of the Trademark Office will conduct a formal review, and qualified trademarks will be entered into the database. However, there are a huge number of trademark applications across the country, and by the time the applied trademark is entered into the system and announced, it may already be 1-2 months after the application is submitted. This period of time is called the blind search period. ?

The blind search period is like a fog, in which there are countless trademarks that cannot be searched. So when you submit your application, there may be a large number of trademarks for the same trademark as yours that have already entered the blind search period, but you have no way of knowing. In the end, only the trademark with the earliest application time can be entered into the system, and the rest will fail to pass the substantive examination.

3) The auditor’s subjective factors

During a trademark search, the search results must be closely compared with the applicant’s trademark. During the comparison process, individual applicants, agency trademark investigators, and Trademark Office examiners all have a set of standards and opinions. Therefore, there is no absolute standard for whether two trademarks are similar or not, only probabilistic judgments. . Especially for the similarity of graphic trademarks, the difference in judgment is even greater.

Whether to issue a notice of trademark rejection is decided by the examiner. Subjective factors such as the examiner's information level, cognitive perspective, and personal thinking perspective determine that the same case will have different review results.

4) After passing the preliminary examination, the announcement period is opposed

The trademark announcement period is three months. During this period, anyone in the country can raise objections (such as pointing out that it is similar to a certain trademark, infringes upon it) Certain individual rights and interests, trademark squatting, etc.), the Trademark Office will notify the applicant after receiving the objection. The Trademark Office will then make a decision on whether to approve based on the materials. The judgment either fails to grant registration or refuses to register. Therefore, it may be that the trademark office has passed the test, but the third party test has not been passed. This factor is influenced by the wishes of others and cannot be predicted.