What is the process to register a trademark? And when is the time to register a trademark? Let’s take a look at the “Trademark Registration Process and Time” brought to you by the editor below. Maybe you are among them required.
What are the regulations on the trademark registration process and time?
1. Design - before applying for trademark registration, you can entrust our company or design by yourself. The following points should be paid attention to when designing a trademark: (1) Originality, that is, the design of the trademark must be innovative; on the one hand, it must meet the requirements of distinctiveness, and on the other hand, a creative trademark can easily expand the popularity of the product and quickly occupy the market. (2) The name of the trademark should avoid being associated with the function of the product. (3) The design of the trademark should highlight the theme and be reasonably laid out.
2. Inquiry - Trademark inquiry usually refers to the search for trademark information conducted by a trademark registration applicant before applying to register a trademark in order to understand whether there are any prior trademark rights that may conflict with the trademark he is applying for. Query. It takes a long time for a trademark to be applied for and approved for registration. If the trademark registration application is rejected, on the one hand, the trademark registration fee will be lost; on the other hand, it will take longer to reapply for a registered trademark, and it is still unknown whether the re-application will be approved for registration. Therefore, it is best for applicants to conduct a trademark search to understand the status of prior rights before applying to register a trademark. There are two types of inquiry services: one is internal inquiry service; the other is agency government inquiry service, which takes 7-14 working days.
3. Application - Submit the trademark registration application documents to the Hong Kong Intellectual Property Department.
4. Acceptance - After receiving the trademark registration application materials, the Hong Kong Intellectual Property Department will give an application number and issue an acceptance notice, which will take about one week.
5. Review - Trademark review is divided into two processes: formal review and substantive review. Formal examination means that before examining the application, the Trademark Registry will examine the application form and all attachments in detail to see whether the required parts of the form have been completed, whether the relevant information is correct, and whether the required information is incomplete. If everything is in order, the application process will enter the next stage (substantive examination stage). After the substantive examination is completed to check the deficiencies of the application and confirm that all the information is complete, the Trademark Registry will check the trademark records to determine whether other merchants have registered or applied for registration of the same or similar goods or services. 's trademark. The Trademark Registry will also check whether the trademark concerned complies with the registration requirements stipulated in the Trademark Ordinance. If approved, the application process will enter the next stage (the gazette announcement stage).
6. Announcement - After the Trademark Registry approves the application, it will be announced in the Hong Kong Intellectual Property Gazette for a period of three months. If no one raises any objection, the trademark can be successfully registered.
7. Registration - If there is no objection to the trademark announcement or the objection is ruled to be untenable, the registration is successful. Under normal circumstances, it takes about 6 months to obtain the registration certificate. After successful registration, it will be valid for 10 years and can be renewed on time six months before expiration.
How to respond when a trademark has been maliciously registered?
1. When the registered trademark enters the preliminary review announcement, raise an objection.
Legal basis:
Article 30 of the "Trademark Law" stipulates that within three months from the date of announcement, anyone may raise an objection to a preliminary approved trademark. If there is no objection at the expiration of the announcement period, the registration will be approved, a trademark registration certificate will be issued, and the announcement will be made.
Article 31 of the Trademark Law: Application for trademark registration shall not damage the existing prior rights of others, nor shall unfair means be used to preemptively register a trademark that has been used by others and has a certain influence.
2. When a registered trademark is approved for registration, a dispute can be filed with the Trademark Review and Adjudication Board to cancel the registered trademark.
Legal basis:
If a registered trademark in Article 41 of the Trademark Law violates the provisions of Articles 10, 11 and 12 of this Law, Or if the registration is obtained by deception or other improper means, the Trademark Office shall revoke the registered trademark; other units or individuals may request the Trademark Review and Adjudication Board to rule on revoking the registered trademark.
If a registered trademark violates the provisions of Articles 13, 15, 16 and 31 of this Law, within five years from the date of trademark registration, the trademark owner shall Or an interested party may request the Trademark Review and Adjudication Board to rule on revoking the registered trademark. For cases registered in bad faith, the owner of a well-known trademark is not subject to the five-year time limit.
Except for the circumstances specified in the preceding two paragraphs, if there is a dispute over a registered trademark, you may apply to the Trademark Review and Adjudication Board for a ruling within five years from the date the trademark is approved for registration.
After receiving the ruling application, the Trademark Review and Adjudication Board shall notify the relevant parties and submit a defense within a time limit.
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What are the procedures for registering a foreign-related trademark?
Applying methods
There are two ways to apply for international trademark registration in Madrid Ways:
(1) Entrust a nationally recognized trademark agency to handle the matter.
(2) The applicant shall go directly to the Trademark Office to apply.
Processing steps
(1) If entrusting a trademark agency to handle the matter, the applicant can voluntarily choose any nationally recognized trademark agency to handle the matter. All trademark agencies registered with the Trademark Office are published in the "Agency" column.
(2) If the applicant goes directly to the Trademark Office, the applicant can follow the following steps:
Prepare the application documents and submit the application documents to the International Trademark Registration Office of the Trademark Office. Pay the registration fee in accordance with the "Charge Notice"
Preparation of application documents
1. Application documents to be submitted
(1) Fill in and add Application form for international trademark registration in Chinese with official seal;
(2) Application form for international trademark registration in foreign language with official seal or signature;
(3) Domestic Trademark Registration Certificate 》Copy, or copy of the "Notice of Acceptance";
(4) Two copies of the trademark drawings. If it is a color trademark, two color trademark drawings must be attached;
(5) If a trademark agency is entrusted to handle the matter, a trademark agency power of attorney should also be submitted.
2. Specific requirements for filling in an application for international trademark registration
(1) The country of origin of the trademark applicant:
“The country of origin of the trademark applicant” refers to China. If the country designated by the applicant for protection is a member of the "Madrid Agreement", the three situations available to the applicant in this item should be selected in order, that is, the applicant first evaluates whether it meets the first situation. If so, it should be the first choice. If the first one doesn't fit, then choose the second one. If the second one doesn't fit either, then choose the third one. If all three are consistent or two are consistent, the first one should be chosen. If the country designated by the applicant for protection is a member of the Madrid Protocol, the applicant only needs to meet one of the three situations.
(2) Applicant name:
If the applicant is a legal person, the full name should be filled in; if the applicant is a natural person, the full name should be filled in. In addition, if the legal person has an official name in English or French, it should be filled in together with the Chinese name and stamped with the applicant's seal (the legal person should stamp the enterprise or company seal).
(3)Applicant address: You can fill in the requirements in brackets.
(4) Agent name:
Applicants can fill it in according to the actual situation; if applying directly, leave this column blank.
(5)Agent’s address:
The filling method is the same as the applicant’s address.
(6) Domestic trademark application and registration:
This refers to trademark application and registration in my country, not international trademark registration.
If the applicant files an application for international trademark registration for the same trademark in different categories, the applicant should fill in the application date, application number or/and registration date and registration number of each category one by one in the order of categories.
(7) Priority:
If the applicant claims priority, the date and application number of the first application should be indicated.
(8) Trademark:
The applicant is required to affix the trademark pattern, and the size of the trademark should be in accordance with the requirements of the application.
(9) Request for color protection:
If the applicant requires color protection, it should indicate which colors and which parts of the colors require protection.
(10) Trademark transliteration:
Just fill in the standard Chinese pinyin of the trademark here.
(11) Selection of language for receiving the article:
Here, put an “×” mark in the box to the left of the selected language.
(12) Goods and services:
This refers to goods and services, which should be filled in according to the categories of goods and services listed in the "International Classification of Goods and Services for Trademark Registration" Fill in order.
For example: Category 1, ethanol, industrial alcohol; Category 5, aspirin, baby food; Category 9, audio, picture tubes; when filling in, the ninth category should not be ranked before the fifth category, or the fifth category should be ranked Before the first category.
(13) Contracting parties designated for protection:
The applicant puts an “×” mark in the box to the left of the country that the applicant wants to protect, such as the country designated by the applicant for protection For Germany, France, and Italy, applicants only need to put an “×” in the boxes on the left side of these three countries.
(14) Payment method for this application:
Put an “×” mark in the box to the left of the selected payment method.
Pay the fees
After receiving the completed application documents, the Trademark Office will register the application date, assign the application number, calculate the fees required by the applicant, and report it to the applicant. Issue a "Charge Notice". After receiving the "Charge Notice", the applicant should pay the amount as soon as possible. The Trademark Office will submit the application to the International Bureau only after receiving sufficient remittance. If the Trademark Office has not received the remittance after two months, the application documents and other attachments will be returned to the applicant, and the application date and application number will no longer be retained.
If a trademark agency is entrusted to handle the matter, the applicant shall pay an agency fee to the trademark agency in addition to a certain amount of international trademark registration fees.
Receive the "Trademark Registration Certificate"
After the International Bureau receives the international trademark registration application that complies with the "Madrid Agreement on the International Registration of Trademarks and the Protocols thereto", That is to say, it is registered in the International Trademark Register, and a "Trademark Registration Certificate" is issued to the trademark registration applicant. The "Trademark Registration Certificate" is sent directly to the International Trademark Registration Office of the Trademark Office, and is forwarded to the applicant by the International Office of the Trademark Office. or trademark agency. It should be noted that the applicant must fill in the address clearly (the mailing address can be added). If the applicant's address changes, the change should be made in time.
How to handle various changes after registration
According to the "Madrid Agreement" and the "Madrid Protocol", international trademark registrants can handle the following related matters after registration:
1. Apply for territorial extension to one or more countries for all or part of the goods and services.
2. Transfer or complete transfer of all or part of the goods and services or to all or part of the countries.
3. Cancellation of international trademark registration.
4. Give up protection in the relevant country.
5. Delete goods and services.
6. Change the name, address, etc. of the registrant.
The procedures for handling these matters are basically the same as applying for international trademark registration, and corresponding fees should be paid according to regulations.
Application for Trademark Opposition
According to the relevant provisions of my country’s Trademark Law, international trademark registrations that require extension to my country for protection shall be subject to the publication of the International Trademark Announcement. Anyone can object to it within 3 months from January 1st. If the opposition applicant is a domestic corporate legal person or natural person, the opposition application can be mailed directly or through a trademark agency or delivered to the International Trademark Registration Office of the Trademark Office. If the opposition applicant is a foreign enterprise or natural person, it must be handled through a trademark agency.
If an objection is raised against an international trademark registration, the applicant may respond within 30 days from the date of receipt of the notice. If the opposition applicant is a domestic corporate legal person or natural person, the opposition application can be mailed directly or through a trademark agency or delivered to the International Trademark Registration Office of the Trademark Office. If the opposition applicant is a foreign enterprise or natural person, it must be handled through a trademark agency.
The Trademark Office will make a ruling based on the facts and reasons stated by both parties. If both parties to the objection are dissatisfied with the Trademark Office's objection ruling, they can submit an objection review application to the Trademark Review and Adjudication Board within 15 days of receiving the notice of objection decision, and the Trademark Review and Adjudication Board will make a final ruling.
The above is the "Trademark Registration Process and Time" provided by the editor. I hope you like it!
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