(1) Trademarks

Since the United States Patent and Trademark Office’s examination of trademarks is relatively strict, applicants have different problems when registering different trademarks:

1. Chinese trademarks can be applied for in the United States, and the pronunciation and corresponding English translation of each Chinese character that constitutes the trademark must be provided.

2. If the trademark is composed of simple English letters, and these letters are not personalized, in order to protect the trademark more broadly, we usually recommend that the applicant declare the trademark when submitting the request. The trademark is a standard font (Standard Charaters), that is, no claim is made to maintain any color, size, or font. The general fonts mentioned here usually refer to TIMES NEW ROMAR or ARIAL.

3. If the trademark is colorful, the color of each part needs to be explained in detail. It is worth noting that if the trademark is gray, the USPTO will determine the trademark as a colorful trademark.

4. It is necessary to clearly indicate whether the trademark has special meaning in relevant business or transaction, geographical description or other language.

The United States Patent and Trademark Office also has very strict requirements for the trademark designs provided. The trademark image must be clear without any ambiguity. Since most trademark applications in the United States are submitted electronically, the applicant needs to provide the trademark image in image format (such as jpg format). The US Patent and Trademark Office also has requirements for the pixels in image format, which cannot be less than 250 pixels or greater than 944 pixels.

(2) Selection of goods/services

Although the United States does not limit the number of products/services submitted for application, because the United States advocates the "use" principle, the applicant When selecting products/services, be sure to limit them to products that are actually being produced and sold or services provided. You must not choose some products that are not produced, sold or provided at all because the more products you submit, the wider the scope of trademark protection will be. service. Doing so will likely result in the entire trademark being revoked.

Although the United States follows the international Nice Classification, its product service items are generally more detailed than those in the Nice Classification. For example, the product "Computer Peripheral Equipment" is a standard product item in the Nice Classification, but this product cannot be accepted in the United States because the scope of the product "Computer Peripheral Equipment" is too broad and not specific. If you want to be accepted by the US Patent and Trademark Office, you must detail it to "keyboard, mouse, modem, scanner, printer, etc." We suggest that when selecting the product/service to be applied for, the applicant can provide the common name of the product/service within the industry, rather than rigidly following the products/services provided in the "Classification Table of Similar Products and Services" published by the my country Trademark Office. Select by service name.

(3) Basis for applying for a US trademark

There are only three basis for applying for a US trademark. That is to say, only one of the three basics can be applied for a US trademark.

1. Submit an application based on actual use (Actual Use)

Actual use means that the trademark has been used in the United States before the date of application. "Use" mainly means that products bearing the trademark have been sold in the U.S. market or have been advertised in the U.S. media. At the same time, it is worth noting that use refers to the use of all products/services specified by the request, not some use. If a U.S. application is submitted based on actual use, the applicant needs to provide evidence of trademark use (i.e. at least one product photo with the trademark for each category), as well as the date of first use in the United States and other international countries (which must be accurate to the year and month)

2. Submit an application based on Intend-to-Use

Intend-to-Use means that although the trademark is not used in the United States when the application is submitted, The petitioner bona fide (Bona Fide) intends to use the trademark in the United States. According to the provisions of Article 1(d)(1) of the U.S. Trademark Law, for a trademark application submitted based on the intended use, after the trademark passes the inspection, within three years from the date of issuance of the Notice of Acceptance, there will be A declaration of use of the trademark in the United States is required. Otherwise, the trademark request will be revoked.

3. Submit an application based on the domestic registration (Home Registration)

When submitting a U.S. application based on the domestic registration, you need to pay attention to the following points: First, obtain a domestically registered trademark It must be exactly the same as the trademark intended for registration in the United States, without any slight changes; second, the scope of the products/services specified on the domestic registration certificate must be larger than the scope of the products/services intended to be protected in the United States; third, The name and address of the applicant must be consistent. After registering a U.S. trademark, you must remember to renew it in a timely manner.