Trademark registration is often regarded as a time-consuming and labor-intensive matter that requires professional knowledge background. Once the trademark application is successfully registered, the joy brought to the applicant is beyond words. However, after successful trademark registration, can you sit back and relax? The answer is: not really. There are several important points to pay attention to. After all, it's easier to fight the country than to defend it.

1. Pay attention to the rational use and proper publicity of trademarks

Article 49 of the Trademark Law stipulates that any unit or individual may apply to the Trademark Office for cancellation of a registered trademark if it becomes the common name of the goods it has approved for use or if it has not been used for three consecutive years without justifiable reasons.

that is to say, if a trademark has not been used for 3 years after registration, it can be revoked by others, so that others can obtain the trademark and its rights.

2. Change the trademark information of an enterprise in time when its name or address changes

Article 49 of the Trademark Law stipulates that if a trademark registrant changes its registered trademark, registrant's name, address or other registered items during the use of a 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.

3. Be sure to actively respond to the trademark dispute application filed by other parties

According to the provisions of the Trademark Law, during the trademark registration application period and after the trademark registration, others are allowed to raise objections to the trademark registration. If they have objections to the registered trademark, they can apply to the Trademark Review and Adjudication Board for reexamination or request for invalidation within a certain period of time.

The Trademark Committee will notify the parties involved in trademark registration of the relevant information within a certain period of time and file a reply within a time limit. The parties concerned should pay attention not to ignore the notice of reply, and the Trademark Review and Adjudication Board will only make a decision based on the evidence provided by both parties. If the trademark owner does not reply, it is likely that the Trademark Review and Adjudication Board will rule that the trademark is invalid based on the other party's statement.

4. Apply for trademark renewal in time for the trademark that is about to expire

Article 4 of the Trademark Law stipulates that if a registered trademark needs to be used after its expiration, the trademark registrant shall go through the renewal procedures in accordance with the regulations within 12 months before the expiration; If it fails to be handled during this period, a six-month extension period may be granted. The validity period of each renewal registration is ten years, counting from the day after the last expiration of the trademark. If the renewal formalities are not completed at the expiration of the period, the registered trademark shall be cancelled.

5. Beware of other people's malicious cybersquatting

Trademarks tend to increase in value during use. At this time, enterprises should pay attention to applying for registration on products or services related to the goods or services designated for use by their own trademarks, or apply for trademarks that are easily confused with their own trademarks, so as to prevent other people from maliciously cybersquatting and causing unnecessary losses to enterprises. If they find other people's malicious cybersquatting, they should file an objection in time within the announcement period of cybersquatting trademarks and miss the objection.

6. The exclusive right to use a registered trademark is limited to the registered trademark.

That is to say, the trademark logo used should be consistent with the registered trademark logo, and it can only be scaled up and down, and the text, graphics and color of the trademark shall not be changed by itself.

Sometimes, for aesthetic reasons or other reasons, the registrant changes the font of the trademark, for example, changing the font from bold to italics. This slight change is still allowed in practice. However, if the original traditional Chinese characters are later changed into simplified Chinese characters, such changes are too big and are not allowed.

The same is true for the graphics in trademarks. Minor changes, such as adding a box, a circle or a line to a registered trademark, are allowed. However, if it is changed greatly, it will form a different appearance image, which may constitute changing the registered trademark by itself or even pretending to be a registered trademark. More seriously, if the changed appearance image is similar to the registered trademark of others, it may also constitute trademark infringement.

7. A registered trademark must be used on the goods and services approved for use

An application for trademark registration must be filed according to different categories in accordance with the Table of Similar Goods and Services, and the goods or services approved for use shall prevail after approval. If a registered trademark needs to be used on different kinds of other goods or services, a separate application for registration must be filed.

8. Pay attention to the preservation of use evidence

According to the provisions of the Trademark Law and the Implementation Regulations, if the use has been stopped for three consecutive years without justifiable reasons, anyone can apply to the Trademark Office for cancellation. However, in practice, it often happens that some registrants fail to submit valid use evidence because they do not pay attention to the preservation of original materials, which leads to the loss of trademark rights. In addition, in the process of foreign-related registration, the registration administration departments of some countries also require the submission of evidence of use, or confirm the right according to the evidence of use in case of dispute between the two parties. Therefore, registrants, especially small and medium-sized enterprises with irregular management, should pay more attention to the preservation of evidence of use. Entrepreneurial trademark registration