1. Selection of registration method:
One is to go to the State Trademark Office (the office is in Beijing) for trademark registration (China Trademark Law allows its citizens to apply for trademark registration directly to the Trademark Office of the State Administration for Industry and Commerce).
Another way is to entrust an experienced trademark agency to provide you with trademark agency services. This will save you a lot of time and energy. Of course, the other party will charge the corresponding service fee.
(Attachment: The business conditions that a trademark agency should have: To provide accurate legal advice and effective legal services to clients, it must be very familiar with various legal provisions and working procedures such as trademark registration application, use renewal, transfer license, objections in the application process, case analysis, review and defense, and must be familiar with the international classification of trademarks and services, accurately use 45 kinds of goods and services, and understand the contents of 485 similar groups. Don't just look at the price factor)
2. Check the trademark registration right before registration:
Although trademark inquiry is not a necessary procedure for registered trademarks (following the principle of voluntary inquiry), this work can greatly reduce the risk of trademark registration and improve the certainty of trademark registration. In the process of inquiry, due to the influence of data processing and trademark application review period, some previously applied trademarks cannot enter the database, so it is impossible to inquire and retrieve this information. In addition, trademark inquiry and examination are undertaken by different personnel, and inquirers and different examiners may have different opinions on the examination point of view. Therefore, the trademark query results cannot be used as a legal basis and have no legal effect.
Therefore, it is very important to find a professional trademark inquiry company or a trademark agency with perfect trademark inquiry conditions before registering a trademark.
3. Preparation of trademark application materials:
(1) If you apply in your own name, you need to show your ID card and a copy of the business license of individual industrial and commercial households. To apply for registration with an enterprise as the applicant, it is necessary to produce a copy of the business license of the enterprise and provide a copy of the business license signed by the issuing authority. A complete application for trademark registration, stamped with the official seal of the unit and personal signature.
(2) 10 trademark pattern (for color trademarks with specified colors, 10 color pattern and 1 black and white ink draft shall be submitted). The provided trademark pattern must be clear and easy to stick, and replaced by bright and durable paper or photos, with the length and width not exceeding 10 cm and not less than 5 cm. If the direction of the trademark pattern is not clear, it should be indicated by an arrow. When applying for trademarks of cigarettes and cigars, the design can be as big as the actual use.
(3) Prepare the corresponding registration fee: registered trademark fee: 20 15 10 15 per 600 yuan. If you entrust a trademark agency, you need to pay different amounts of trademark agency fees, and the market price is between 100-2000 yuan.
Apply for registration
1. Only individuals or groups that meet the following conditions can file trademark applications in China:
Applicants for trademark registration must be: enterprises, institutions, social organizations, individual industrial and commercial households, individual partnerships, foreigners and foreign enterprises that have signed agreements with China, participated in international treaties or handled according to the principle of reciprocity.
Those who meet the above conditions and need to obtain the exclusive right to use a trademark apply to the Trademark Office for trademark registration on a voluntary basis (20011). The China Trademark Office began to accept applications for registered trademarks from natural persons, but since February 28, 2007, the Trademark Office no longer accepts applications for registered trademarks from pure natural persons in China and natural persons in China.
2. According to the classification of goods and services:
China's trademark law implements international classification of goods, and divides 1 10,000 kinds of goods and services into 45 categories. When applying for trademark registration, the category of goods or services using the trademark shall be determined according to the classification in the classification table of goods and services. Where the same applicant uses the same trademark on different kinds of goods, it shall apply for registration according to the classification table of goods. This can avoid improper expansion of the scope of application of trademark rights, and is also conducive to the examination and approval of examiners and the protection of trademark exclusive rights.
3. Determination of the date of trademark application:
It is very important to determine the application date. Because the trademark registration in China adopts the principle of applying first, once the application date occurs, it will become the legal basis for determining the trademark right. The date of application for trademark registration shall be the date when the Trademark Office receives the application (the minimum date unit is' day').
4. Ways to apply for trademark registration:
Where an application for trademark registration is submitted through a trademark agency, the trademark agency may submit a paper application to the Trademark Office. Where a trademark agency submits an application to the Trademark Office online, it may obtain a digital certificate from the Trademark Office for online declaration. Where the application is made in paper form, the date of trademark application is the date when the Trademark Office receives the application documents; If the application is made online, the date of online application is the application date.
Trademark review
Trademark examination refers to a series of activities such as inspection, data retrieval, analysis and comparison, investigation and research conducted by the competent trademark registration authority to determine whether the application for trademark registration conforms to the provisions of the Trademark Law and decide to give preliminary approval or reject the application.
Announcement of preliminary examination
The examination and approval of a trademark means that after the application for trademark registration has been examined, those who do not violate the relevant provisions of the Trademark Law and meet the requirements are allowed to register their trademarks and make an announcement in the Trademark Announcement. If no objection is raised within three months from the date of the announcement of preliminary examination and approval, the trademark shall be registered and a registration announcement shall be issued at the same time.
Registration announcement
Trademark registration is a trademark legal procedure. The application for trademark registration filed by the applicant shall be preliminarily examined and approved by the Trademark Office. If no objection is raised within three months or the objection is ruled invalid, the trademark will take effect and be protected by law, and the trademark registrant will enjoy the exclusive right to use the trademark. Trademark registration takes about one year to one and a half years. The period of validity of a registered trademark is ten years, counting from the date of approval of registration. Where it is necessary to continue to use a registered trademark after its expiration, it may apply for renewal of registration.
Obtain a trademark certificate
Through the agent, the agent sends the trademark registration certificate to the trademark registrant.
Where a trademark is directly registered, the trademark registrant shall collect it from the Trademark Office within three months after receiving the Notice of Obtaining a Trademark Registration Certificate, and shall also bring:
(1) Letter of introduction for obtaining the trademark registration certificate;
(2) The ID card and photocopy of the witness;
(3) The original business license shall be stamped with the seal of the local industrial and commercial department;
(4) Notice of obtaining the trademark registration certificate;
(5) Where the name of a trademark registrant changes, a certificate of change issued by the working department shall be attached.
In addition: application time for trademark registration: a new trademark application usually takes about one year, including one month for application acceptance and formal examination, four to five months for substantive examination, three months for objection, and three months for approval, announcement and release.