Trademark is a special legal term. A brand or a part of a brand is called a "trademark" after it is registered by the relevant government departments according to law. Trademarks are protected by law, and registrants have exclusive rights. Legal trademarks are represented by the letter R. Famous trademarks in the international market are often registered in many countries. There is a difference between "registered trademark" and "unregistered trademark" in China. A registered trademark is a trademark protected by law after being registered by the relevant government departments, while an unregistered trademark is not protected by trademark law. Legal trademarks are divided into word mark, graphic trademark, letter trademark, digital trademark, three-dimensional logo trademark, color combination trademark, overall combination trademark, sound trademark and smell trademark.
In practice, trademarks are also protected by the Trademark Law. Trademark infringers have to bear civil liability to the owner of the infringed trademark, and in serious cases, they have to bear administrative liability or even criminal liability. A trademark is a mark used to distinguish one operator's brand or service from other operators' goods or services. China's trademark law stipulates that trademarks approved and registered by the Trademark Office, including commodity trademarks, service trademarks, collective trademarks and certification trademarks, enjoy the exclusive right to use trademarks and are protected by law. If they are well-known trademarks, they will be protected by cross-category laws.
here are some specific categories of trademarks:
1. word mark
refers to trademarks composed only of characters, including China Chinese characters and minority characters, foreign characters and Arabic numerals, or trademarks combined with various characters.
second, the graphic trademark
refers to a trademark composed only of graphics. Among them, it can be divided into:
1. Mark trademark: it refers to a trademark that uses a simple symbol to form a pattern;
2. Geometric graphic trademark: a trademark composed of abstract graphics;
3. Natural graphic trademark: it is a graphic trademark that takes people, animals and plants, natural scenery and other natural objects as objects. Some are pictures in kind, while others are trademarks made of natural graphics that have been processed, refined, generalized and exaggerated.
III. Alphabet trademarks
refer to the smallest writing unit using pinyin characters or phonetic symbols, including trademarks composed of pinyin characters and foreign letters such as English letters and Latin letters.
IV. Digital trademarks
Trademarks consisting of Arabic numerals, Roman numerals or Chinese capital numerals.
V. Three-dimensional logo trademark
Also known as three-dimensional trademark, a trademark logo composed of three-dimensional three-dimensional objects with length, width and height is different from the trademark pattern that we usually see on a plane, but appears in a three-dimensional material form, which may appear in the shape of goods or in containers or other places of goods. This is a new content added by the newly revised Trademark Law in 21, which will make the trademark protection system in China more perfect.
VI. Color combination trademark
A color combination trademark refers to a trademark formed by arranging and combining two or more colors. A trademark composed of words, patterns and colors is not a color combination trademark, but a general combination trademark.
VII. Overall combined trademark
refers to a trademark composed of two or more components, also known as a composite trademark.
VIII. Sound trademarks
A group of music composed of musical notes or a trademark of a particular sound as a commodity or service is a sound trademark. For example, a record company in the United States uses 11 notes to compose a set of music, and records it at the beginning of the tapes they sell as a sign to identify their products. This company applied for registration in order to protect the exclusive right of its voice and prevent others from using and copying it. At present, voice trademarks are only recognized in a few countries such as the United States.
IX. Smell trademark
Smell trademark is a trademark that uses a special smell to distinguish different goods and different services. At present, this trademark is only recognized as a trademark in some countries. It cannot be registered as a trademark in China.