I believe that everyone has a certain understanding of the use of trademarks. Today, Biaomei would like to take you to have an in-depth understanding of what was mentioned in the fifth lesson - the specific steps after trademark registration is rejected!

First of all, we must first understand why our registered trademark was rejected. If the trademark registration was carried out strictly in accordance with Lesson 5 and it was still rejected, then we must consider the following reasons:

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1. Blind spots in trademark search:

Trademarks must be searched before application. Whether you entrust an agency to search, or go to the official website of the National Trademark Office to search by yourself, the retrieved data will not be It is not the data as of the date of your query, which means that there is a blind spot in the trademark query data.

Part of the data in the blind area is the application data that is being submitted, and the other part is the data that has been submitted to the National Trademark Office but has not been entered into the query database by the Trademark Office in time; the other data is the trademark review , international trademark extension priority, etc.

Because of the gaps in the above three aspects of data, the conclusions drawn after careful inquiry are not entirely accurate. Although this probability is very small, the existence and unavoidability of the blind spot makes it uncertain whether the trademark can be successfully registered.

2. The randomness of trademark examiners:

Trademark examination is conducted through the human analysis and judgment of trademark examiners, so each examiner’s knowledge and perspective on issues are different. If they are different, it is possible that the same trademark will appear in the hands of different examiners and result in different examination results.

Although the National Trademark Office has also formulated the "Trademark Examination Standards", it is still inevitable.

3. Unpredictable Trademark Opposition Procedure

After the applied trademark passes the Trademark Office’s review, it will then enter the three-month trademark announcement period, which is also called the opposition period. If any person or enterprise has objections to the trademark application, they may file an objection application with the National Trademark Office within three months.

After the National Trademark Office receives the opposition application from the opponent, the applied trademark enters the opposition procedure. The National Trademark Office will make a decision on whether to approve the registration of the trademark application based on the objection grounds raised by the opponent and the actual situation.

Therefore, for any trademark application, before the "Trademark Registration Certificate" is obtained, the risk of registration failure is objectively present. Moreover, the period from trademark application to registration and certification is relatively long, so before applying for a trademark, you should understand the trademark application procedures clearly, and make preparations and countermeasures in advance during production and operation activities to avoid blind use and publicity. irreparable loss.

After knowing the three reasons why trademark registration is rejected, let’s proceed with the specific operations:

Step 1: Verify the status information of the registered trademark

If If it really involves the relative reasons for rejection of an earlier trademark, when receiving a rejection notice, you must first verify the cited trademark in the notice. The verification includes: the status of the cited trademark, whether the designated goods are similar, etc.

Citation trademark status query - Check the information on the China Trademark Online. If it is found that the cited trademark is invalid or is invalid for the conflicting services or goods, then this problem can be easily solved. Of course, similar services and goods need to be checked through the "Classification Table of Similar Goods and Services" to see if they are similar. If it can be pointed out that they are not similar, you can also claim that the goods and services are not similar during the review procedure.

Step 2: Compare the degree of similarity between the applied trademark and the cited trademark

When judging the similarity of trademarks, the examiner mainly refers to the "Trademark Examination Standards". Therefore, the "Notice of Rejection" received can also be used to comprehensively analyze and judge the legal basis and specific reasons for the examiner's rejection on the basis of the "Trademark Examination Standards". At the same time, it can also be judged whether the applied trademark and the cited trademark are inconsistent with the "Trademark Examination Standards". Whether the specific contents described in the Standard are basically consistent and whether there are any exceptions.

This exception includes: the initial letter font is obviously different, the meaning is obviously different, the overall appearance is different, etc. If the above situations exist, you can claim the difference and submit evidence of dictionary explanation.

Step 3: Object, invalidate, and revoke the cited trademark

If the cited trademark is a trademark applied for in bad faith and has not yet been registered, you can apply for it after the preliminary review of the cited trademark is announced. File an objection to the cited trademark with the Trademark Office in accordance with Article 33 of the Trademark Law.

If the cited trademark has been registered or the cited trademark is improperly registered, an application for trademark invalidation can be submitted in a timely manner.

In addition, due to the large number of idle trademarks in China, many cited trademarks have not been actually used or the trademark registrants have disappeared. Then these trademarks can be revoked by submitting an application to cancel the use of registered trademarks for three consecutive years. This is the "three-year cancellation application" that we are familiar with.

After receiving the "Notice of Rejection", first check whether the registration time of the cited trademark is three years. For registered trademarks that have experienced opposition or opposition review procedures, the calculation needs to start after the date of the registration announcement. For internationally registered trademarks, the examination period shall start after the expiration of 18 months.

If the cited trademark has indeed been registered for three years, it is necessary to further investigate whether the cited trademark has been used through on-site investigations or Internet inquiries. After investigation, if it is found that the cited trademark is not used, you can submit an application for withdrawal of the cited trademark.

Step 4: Submit a letter of consent or deposit agreement

If there is a certain difference between the applied trademark and the cited trademark itself or the designated goods or services, then the application trademark and the cited trademark can be considered to be owned by the cited trademark. Negotiate with the person and require them to issue a "Trademark Consent" agreeing to apply for trademark registration and use or sign a "Trademark Deposit Agreement" agreeing to apply for trademark and reference trademark deposit.

If through negotiation, the owner of the cited trademark agrees to issue a "Trademark Consent Letter" or sign a "Trademark Savings Agreement", the "Trademark Consent Letter" or "Trademark Savings Agreement" is usually It can be adopted by the competent authority and used as the basis for applying for trademark registration.

Step 5: Negotiate trademark transfer

If the first four steps are not resolved, you can only proceed to this last step.

Negotiate with the owner of the cited trademark to transfer the cited trademark. If the owner of the cited trademark agrees to transfer the trademark to the applicant, both parties can submit a transfer application to the Trademark Office.

Trademark registration is never 100% successful, but if you encounter a rejection of trademark registration, don’t panic, think rationally, and look for a breakthrough point. In fact, most of the reasons for rejected registered trademarks have been listed above. If you still have any questions, you can also leave a message at the end of the article~Trademark Registration Application