While a trademark wins the trust of consumers, the enterprise gains profits. How to register a trademark in the United States? Is there anything to prepare for the registration of foreign-related trademarks? Xiaobian brought it to you? What is the process of registering a trademark in the United States? Related knowledge, which may be what you need. How to register foreign-related trademarks?

there are two ways to apply for foreign-related trademark registration: one is to register one country at a time, that is, to apply for registration with the trademark authorities of various countries respectively; One is Madrid international trademark registration, that is, according to the Madrid Agreement on International Trademark Registration (hereinafter referred to as? Madrid agreement? ) or the relevant protocol to the Madrid Agreement on the International Registration of Trademarks (hereinafter referred to as? Madrid protocol? ), the trademark registration between Madrid Union member countries. What we usually call international trademark registration refers to Madrid trademark international trademark registration. Madrid Union? Do you mean by? Madrid agreement? And? Madrid protocol? Special Union for International Trademark Registration, composed of applicable countries or intergovernmental organizations. As of October 23, 23, the Madrid Union * * * has 74 member countries (or contracting parties). They are: when did the country join the Madrid Agreement and the Madrid Protocol? When did the country join the Madrid Agreement and the Madrid Protocol? For the abbreviation of Belgium, Netherlands and Luxembourg, there are actually three? Madrid Union? Member States, but when the applicant designates these three countries for protection, they are still treated as one country and pay relevant fees according to one country. What are the procedures for handling foreign-related trademark registration?

Ways to handle

There are two ways to apply for international trademark registration of Madrid trademark:

(1) Entrust a trademark agency recognized by the state to handle it.

(2) The applicant shall go directly to the Trademark Office for handling.

Procedures

(1) If a trademark agency is entrusted to handle the matter, the applicant may voluntarily choose any trademark agency recognized by the state to handle it. All trademark agencies registered with the Trademark Office are published in? Agency? In a column.

(2) If the applicant goes directly to the Trademark Office, the applicant can go through the following steps:

Prepare the application documents and submit them to the International Trademark Registration Office of the Trademark Office to pay the registration fee according to the provisions of the Notice of Fees

Preparation of the application documents

1. The application documents to be submitted

(1) An application for registration of Chinese international trademarks filled in and stamped with the official seal;

(2) an application for registration of an international trademark in a foreign language, which is filled in and stamped with the official seal or signature;

(3) a copy of the domestic Trademark Registration Certificate or a copy of the Acceptance Notice;

(4) two trademark designs. If it is a color trademark, two color trademark patterns should be attached;

(5) If a trademark agency is entrusted, a power of attorney for trademark agency shall also be submitted.

2. Specific requirements for filling in the application for international trademark registration

(1) The country of origin of the trademark applicant: the country of origin of the trademark applicant? Refers to China. If the applicant specifies the country to be protected as? Madrid agreement? Member States, the three situations available to the applicant in this item should be selected in turn, that is, the applicant should first measure whether he meets the first situation, if so, he should choose the first one first, if not, he should choose the second one, and if not, he should choose the third one. If all three meet or meet two, the former one should be selected. If the applicant specifies the country to be protected as? Madrid protocol? Member States, in these three cases, the applicant only needs to meet one of them.

(2) Name of the applicant:

If the applicant is a legal person, the full name should be filled in; If the applicant is a natural person, the name should be filled in. In addition, if the legal person has an official English or French name, it should be filled in together with Chinese and stamped with the seal of the applicant (the legal person should be stamped with the seal of the enterprise or company).

(3) applicant's address: it can be filled in according to the requirements in brackets.

(4) name of agent:

the applicant can fill in according to the actual situation; If it is a direct application, this column is not filled.

(5) Agent's address:

It is the same as the applicant's address.

(6) Domestic application and registration of trademarks:

This refers to the application and registration of trademarks in China, not the application and registration of international trademarks.

if the applicant applies for international trademark registration for the same trademark in different categories, the applicant should fill in the application date, application number or/and registration date and registration number of each category one by one in the order of categories.

(7) Priority:

If the applicant requests priority, the date and application number of the first application shall be indicated.

(8) Trademark:

Here, the applicant is required to paste the trademark pattern, and the size of the trademark should be handled according to the requirements of the application.

(9) Request for color protection:

If the applicant requests color protection, it should indicate which colors and which parts of colors are required to be protected.

(1) Trademark transliteration:

Only the standard Chinese pinyin of the trademark can be filled in here.

(11) Receiving language selection:

Mark the box on the left of the selected language here.

(12) Goods and services:

The goods and services mentioned here shall be filled in the order of the categories listed in the International Classification of Goods and Services for Trademark Registration. Such as: the first category, ethanol, industrial alcohol; The fifth category, aspirin, baby food; The ninth category, audio, kinescope; When filling in, the ninth category shall not be placed before the fifth category, or the fifth category shall not be placed before the first category.

(13) Contracting Party designated for protection:

The applicant marks the box on the left of the country to be protected. If the applicant designates Germany, France and Italy as the countries to be protected, the applicant only needs to mark the box on the left of these three countries.

(14) Payment method of this application:

Mark the box on the left of the selected payment method.

Payment of fees

After receiving the application documents with complete formalities, the Trademark Office will register the application date, assign the application number, calculate the fees to be paid by the applicant, and issue a Notice of Fees to the applicant. The applicant shall pay the amount as soon as possible after receiving the Notice of Charge. The Trademark Office will only submit an application to the International Bureau after receiving the full remittance. If the remittance is still not received by the Trademark Office after two months, the application documents and other attachments will be returned to the applicant without retaining the application date and application number.

if a trademark agency is entrusted, the applicant shall pay a certain amount of international trademark registration fees and agency fees to the trademark agency.

Obtaining the Trademark Registration Certificate

After receiving the application for international trademark registration in accordance with the Madrid Agreement on International Trademark Registration and its Protocol, the International Bureau will register in the international trademark registration book and issue the Trademark Registration Certificate to the applicant. The Trademark Registration Certificate will be sent directly to the International Trademark Registration Office of the Trademark Office, which will be forwarded to the applicant or trademark agency by the International Office of the Trademark Office. It should be noted that the applicant must fill in the address clearly (mailing address can be added), and if the applicant's address changes, it should be changed in time.

how to handle all kinds of changes after registration

according to? Madrid agreement? And? Madrid protocol? Trademark An international trademark registrant may handle the following matters after registration:

1. Apply for territorial extension to one or more countries for all or part of goods and services.

2. Transfer all or part of goods and services or all or part of countries.

3. Cancellation of international trademark registration.

4. Give up protection in the countries concerned.

5. cut goods and services.

6. Change the name and address of the registrant.

the procedures for handling these matters are basically the same as those for applying for international trademark registration of trademarks, and the corresponding fees shall be paid as required.

Application for Trademark Objection

According to the relevant provisions of China's Trademark Law, anyone can raise an objection to a registered trademark of an international trademark that is required to be protected in China within three months from the first day of the month following the publication of the International Trademark Announcement. If the objection applicant is a domestic enterprise legal person or natural person, the objection application may be mailed or delivered to the International Trademark Registry of the Trademark Office directly or through a trademark agency. If the objection applicant is a foreign enterprise or natural person, it must be handled through a trademark agency.

if the registered trademark of an international trademark is challenged, the applicant may reply within 3 days from the date of receiving the notice. If the objection applicant is a domestic enterprise legal person or natural person, the objection application may be mailed or delivered to the International Trademark Registry of the Trademark Office directly or through a trademark agency. If the objection applicant is a foreign enterprise or natural person, it must be handled through a trademark agency.

The Trademark Office makes a ruling based on the facts and reasons stated by both parties. If both parties disagree with the Trademark Office's objection ruling, they can submit an application for objection review to the Trademark Review and Adjudication Board within 15 days after receiving the notice of objection ruling, and the Trademark Review and Adjudication Board will make a final ruling. What problems should be paid attention to before handling foreign-related trademarks?

selection of goods or services

when applying for registration of foreign-related trademarks, the enterprise must determine the goods or services that need to be applied for protection abroad according to the company's business direction, product type and nature, and the list of exported goods. The scope, number and standardization of the choice of goods or services not only directly affect the level of expenses and the scope of protection of trademark registration applications, but also affect whether it is acceptable by the government and whether the trademark rights of enterprises may be infringed. The following is mainly a statement on this issue.

(1) Selection of goods or services

For the classification of goods or services, the International Classification of Goods and Services for Trademark Registration is adopted in most countries or regions at present (that is, Nice Classification). As of January, 26, there are 78 countries that are members of the Nice Agreement, and 68 countries and 4 organizations that are not members adopt the Nice classification. The only difference is that the versions adopted by different countries or regions are different. At present, the latest version is the ninth edition, which basically covers all goods and services in the world.

for trademark applications in most countries, enterprises should mainly decide the items for applying for registration of goods or services according to the classification table. At the same time, for those countries or regions that have not adopted the Nice Classification Table, it is generally acceptable for enterprises to refer to the classification table for selection. However, for a few countries, they use a completely different classification method of goods and services from the Nice classification table, so these countries must choose goods or services separately. For example, Sierra Leone, Bahamas, Dominica and other countries adopt the old British classification table in 1938, which does not include service items.

generally speaking, for a production enterprise, it is enough to apply for a commodity protection project. However, with the increasing influence of China brand in countries all over the world, there have been many cases of registered trademarks of China enterprises. The registered trademarks are usually registered in similar categories or goods-related service categories. If the enterprise produces the 12th category? Cars? Waiting for the goods, the squatters will be in the corresponding? Vehicle maintenance and repair; Vehicle service station; Vehicle import and export? And other service items for cybersquatting.

Therefore, for some relatively well-known enterprises in China, they should register similar goods or services at the same time, build a solid trademark defense system, prevent others from registering first, and safeguard the trademark rights and interests of enterprises.

(2) Selection of the number of goods or services

The selection of the number of goods or services directly affects the scope of trademark protection of enterprises, so it plays a very important role. Enterprises must choose products according to the export list, the status of main products and the status of destination countries, but the selection of the number of goods or projects has great mystery.

For those countries that can accept the registration of all kinds of goods or services, it is best for enterprises to choose all kinds of registration, which can not only expand the scope of protection, but also prevent the registration of the same trademark applied for later, but also protect the exclusive right of enterprises to use trademarks. There are many countries that accept all kinds of registration, most of which are located in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, such as Austria, Norway, Argentina and Lebanon.

For countries that limit the number of goods or services, enterprises should choose the number of goods or services according to the actual situation. If it exceeds the prescribed range, enterprises must pay extra fees. For example, Thailand is limited to 1 items, Angola is limited to 5 items, India is limited to 1 items, and Vietnam is limited to 6 items.

for those countries and regions that have no restrictions on the number of goods or services, is it better to choose as many as possible? The answer is yes, but the prerequisite is that this will not generate additional costs. For example, after passing the official substantive examination, many countries will announce all the information of trademarks in local mainstream newspapers or publications once or several times. If customers choose too many goods or services, the result is that they occupy a large space in newspapers or publications, and the cost of announcement is quite amazing. Moreover, in some non-English speaking countries, especially developed countries, if too many goods or services are selected, the workload of foreign lawyers will increase exponentially (mainly the time for translating goods or services and the time for lawyers to review goods or services), and lawyers in these countries usually charge by the time, and the lawyer's fees will increase greatly. Therefore, the author suggests that enterprises should do what they can when choosing the number of goods or services, and not be greedy.

generally speaking, enterprises should grasp the following principles: for countries and regions that can accept all-class registration, they should try their best to register all-class; In countries and regions where the number of goods or services is limited, enterprises should choose according to the actual situation; For countries or regions where there is no limit on the number of goods or services, we suggest that enterprises choose no more than 2 items, and generally 1 items are appropriate.

(3) Selection of goods or services in special countries and regions

Enterprises should not only choose goods or services according to the Nice classification table, but also pay attention to the regulations of some special countries and regions, which have unique ways to divide goods or services. For example, Iraq and Yemen have their own national classifications; The countries mentioned above, such as Sierra Leone, Bahamas and Dominica, adopt the old British classification table in 1938, which does not include service items. However, although some developed countries have similar classification to Nice, they all have their own special regulations, mainly including the United States, South Korea, Japan, Singapore, Canada, etc. These countries have very strict descriptions of goods and services, and they do not accept relatively broad items of goods or services. In practice, many trademarks in these countries have received official review opinions because the items of goods or services are too broad, which leads to the extension of the period for enterprises to obtain the exclusive right to use trademarks and the extra expenses. It is impossible to completely avoid this situation. The main reason is that the examiners in these countries have great discretion in the examination of trademarks. At the same time, these countries do not have very uniform regulations on the division of goods and services, but only have certain historical reference. However, as long as we grasp some rules, we can still avoid the official issuing review opinions because the goods or services are not standardized to a considerable extent. Such as goods on category 25? Clothing? , the goods are in the above countries.