How to choose the most exclusive trademark category

When registering a trademark, many companies find that they must register multiple categories in order for the trademark category to cover multiple business scopes of the company. Since the Trademark Law stipulates the registration principle of "one class, one mark", this leads to enterprises registering multiple trademarks because they must register multiple categories at the same time, which increases the cost of trademark registration for enterprises, which is very reluctant for some small businesses. of.

For example, if a company produces a certain beverage, Category 32 and Category 33 are related to beverages. If it is registered in both categories, it needs to register two trademarks. But often two trademarks cannot cover all the business of the company. If the company not only wants to protect the beverage industry, but also wants to protect it in multiple industries such as food, cleaning, printing, leasing, etc. At this time, is there any way to not register so many categories of trademarks, but also to have a certain protective effect on your trademark in multiple industries?

If you study the trademark class table in detail, you will find that in "3503 sales (contract) agency", "promotion (for others)" 350071" and "acting as an intermediary for others (for other companies to purchase goods or services for other companies)" Services) 350085? Two subcategories within category 3503. Its meaning is to provide what others need, no matter what is needed, as long as the customer's needs are legitimate and the services provided by the company are not illegal, it can be explained by these two subcategories.

So, no matter what product or service you are registering, don’t forget to register these two categories. Once these two categories are registered, it is difficult for anyone to split them up. For example, an electronics factory has registered the product trademark of "Vole" brand mouse, and you use the word "Vole" in "Promotion (for others) 350071" and "Serving as an intermediary for others (purchasing goods or services for other companies) 350085" After registering in the category, you have the right to notify that electronics manufacturer to stop using the word "vole" in publicity and advertising. This is why in the late 1980s, many product trademarks in my country had to be replaced after they were maliciously registered as service marks by some overseas speculators. How to protect unregistered trademarks

Article 13, Paragraph 1 of the Trademark Law stipulates that a trademark applied for registration on the same or similar goods is a copy, imitation or translation of someone else’s well-known trademark that has not been registered in China, which is likely to cause confusion. , registration is not allowed and use is prohibited. Article 31 stipulates that applying for trademark registration shall not damage the existing prior rights of others, nor use unfair means to preemptively register a trademark that is already used by others and has a certain influence.

Article 2 of the Anti-Unfair Competition Law stipulates that operators should abide by the principles of voluntariness, equality, fairness, good faith and recognized business ethics in market transactions. Preemptive registration of unregistered trademarks and direct counterfeiting of unregistered trademarks should violate the spirit of this law. If an unregistered trademark forms the name, packaging and decoration of well-known goods or an important part thereof, the provisions of Article 5 of the Law can be invoked to protect the unregistered trademark.

Article 5 of the General Principles of the Civil Law stipulates that the legitimate civil rights and interests of citizens and legal persons are protected by law and may not be infringed upon by any organization or individual. The provisions on the rights to name, portrait, company name, and reputation are also Some supplementary protection may be provided for unregistered trademarks.

In addition, when an unregistered trademark constitutes a work or the product obtains a design patent, it can also be protected by copyright and patent rights. How to protect well-known trademarks

Regarding the special protection of well-known trademarks, the "Interim Provisions on the Recognition and Management of Well-known Trademarks" has made strict and operable regulations, mainly concentrated in Articles 8, 9, and 10. As stipulated in Article 8, if a trademark that is identical or similar to someone else's well-known trademark is applied for registration on a large number of similar goods, and may harm the rights and interests of the well-known trademark registrant, the Trademark Office of the State Administration for Industry and Commerce will reject the registration application; if it has already been registered, Within five years from the date of registration, the registrant of a well-known trademark may request the Trademark Review and Adjudication Board of the State Administration for Industry and Commerce to cancel it, but there is no time limit for malicious registration. Article 9 stipulates that using a trademark that is identical or similar to another person's well-known trademark on non-similar goods will imply that the goods have some connection with the well-known trademark registrant, which may damage the rights and interests of the well-known trademark registrant. , the registrant of a well-known trademark may request the industrial and commercial administrative authorities to stop it within two years from the date he knows or should know it.

Article 10 stipulates that from the date of recognition of a well-known trademark, if others use words that are the same as or similar to the well-known trademark as part of the company name, and may cause public misunderstanding, the industrial and commercial administrative authorities will not approve the registration; it has been registered , the well-known trademark registrant may request the industrial and commercial administration authority to cancel it within two years from the date he knew or should have known it. In addition, Article 12 specifically stipulates that claiming a trademark is a well-known trademark without confirmation by the State Administration for Industry and Commerce is an act of deceiving the public and will be punished depending on the circumstances. In addition, the Trademark Office of the State Administration for Industry and Commerce has recently made it clear that except for the owner of a well-known trademark, others are not allowed to register a company name that is the same as a well-known trademark. Even if the company name is registered before the well-known trademark is recognized, it is still an infringement. The owner of a well-known trademark has the right to request the industrial and commercial administrative authorities to cancel it. The above regulations show that even when measured by international standards, my country's protection scope and intensity of well-known trademarks are very outstanding, reflecting China's determination to protect domestic and foreign intellectual property rights in the process of joining the WTO. However, due to the current specific historical period, the regulatory authorities seem to pay more attention and emphasize the protection of foreign intellectual property rights, because the repeated counterfeiting of foreign well-known trademarks in the country has evolved into a very sensitive international issue. In fact, the possibility and strength of protection that foreign well-known trademarks can obtain under the above provisions are not only much higher than that of ordinary domestic trademarks, but also much higher than that of domestic well-known trademarks. This shows the tendency of the management authorities. The extremely strict management regulations are just a concrete manifestation of the complex mentality created by this era, and create new problems from another perspective. The most obvious one is that such strong protection objectively creates problems for some well-known foreign companies. The abuse of the protective effects of well-known trademarks by non-well-known trademarks provides a considerable degree of institutional convenience, which is called a free-riding phenomenon on the protective effects of well-known trademarks.

The above are the trademark protection categories provided by the editor. I hope you like them!