A company registered a trademark a few years ago, and the renewal time is approaching. I contacted my colleagues for help. Colleagues found that the trademark had been declared invalid. Exploring the reasons, it is found that the business license address of a company has changed after registering a trademark. Due to insufficient attention, the trademark has not been changed, which leads to the failure to receive the invalid declaration documents mailed by the state, let alone reply. As a result, the trademark was "lost" without knowing it. ......
The management and maintenance of trademarks after painstaking registration is particularly important, especially now the number of invalid and revoked cases is increasing. Since the trademark registration procedure has ended and the original agency relationship has ended, the state will no longer send the invalid declaration document to the original agency, but only rely on the registrant to receive it. At this time, the importance of the address is self-evident.
Let's take a look at how the national laws and regulations specifically stipulate the change of trademark address:
Article 41 of the Trademark Law: Where a registered trademark needs to change the name, address or other registered items of the registrant, an application for change shall be filed.
Article 49 of the Trademark Law: If a trademark registrant changes the registered trademark, the name and address of the registrant or other registered items by himself during the use of the registered trademark, the local administrative department for industry and commerce shall order it to make corrections within a time limit; If it fails to make corrections within the time limit, its registered trademark shall be revoked by the Trademark Office.
Article 30 of the Regulations on the Implementation of the Trademark Law: If the name, address or other registered items of a trademark registrant change, it shall file an application for change with the Trademark Office. Where a trademark registrant changes its name, it shall also submit a certificate of change issued by the relevant registration authority. If approved by the Trademark Office, a corresponding certificate shall be issued to the trademark registrant and announced; If it is not approved, it shall notify the applicant in writing and explain the reasons.
Where the name or address of a trademark registrant is changed, the trademark registrant shall change all its registered trademarks together; If it is not changed at the same time, the Trademark Office shall notify it to make corrections within a time limit; If it fails to make corrections within the time limit, it shall be deemed as abandoning the application for change, and the Trademark Office shall notify the applicant in writing.
So, what should we pay attention to in trademark change?
When the trademark of 1. is changed, all trademarks under the registrant's name need to be changed together, otherwise the Trademark Office will issue a correction opinion.
2. Where the address and name of a trademark registrant are changed, they can be changed together and an application can be submitted.
3. Where the address of a trademark registrant has been changed for many times, a change may be made based on the last address.
4. If the address is inconsistent when the trademark is transferred and renewed, the trademark can be changed and transferred or renewed at the same time.
In reality, many trademark registrants don't pay much attention to trademark change, and feel that it doesn't matter if they stay the same. I don't know. If you are not careful, you will lose a brand that has been in business for many years. I hope that the case of Company A won't happen again, and especially remind trademark owners to do a good job in trademark maintenance, pay attention to brand monitoring, and keep their rights stable, so as to provide a solid foundation for better development and rights protection in the later period.
Trademark registration process trademark change