To understand the trademark opposition system, you must first have a preliminary understanding of the Nanjing trademark registration process. Registered trademarks are roughly divided into the following four stages: registration application → Trademark Office review (if approved, it will be announced, otherwise it will be rejected ) → Announcement period (objections can be raised during this period) → Registration approval (registration will be approved if there is no objection within 3 months). In other words, the trademarks that can be opposed are all trademarks that have been reviewed and approved by the Trademark Office, but review by the Trademark Office is inevitable. There will be omissions, so the establishment of an opposition system introduces public review of registered trademarks.

Trademark Registration

Article 33 of the Trademark Law stipulates: “For a trademark that has been initially approved and announced, within three months from the date of announcement, the prior rights holder and interested parties shall It is considered that the provisions of paragraphs 2 and 3 of Article 13, paragraph 1 of Article 15, paragraph 1 of Article 16, Article 30, Article 31 and Article 32 of this Law are violated, or any If a person believes that the provisions of Articles 10, 11, and 12 of this Law have been violated, he may raise an objection to the Trademark Office and if there is no objection after the announcement period, the registration will be approved, a trademark registration certificate will be issued, and the trademark will be announced.”

The trademarks opposed by this can be roughly divided into two types

The first type violates the absolute prohibition of registration (Articles 10, 11 and 12 of the Trademark Law) Apply for registration. In this case, anyone can file an objection to the objection trademark, because the trademark itself is not allowed to apply for registration.

The second type is to apply for registration in violation of the relatively prohibited reasons (for details, please refer to Articles 13, 15, 16, 30, 31, and 32 of the Trademark Law). This type of trademark The registration will infringe the rights and interests of certain prior rights holders or interested parties, so the prior rights holders or interested parties may raise objections.

The reason why registration is absolutely prohibited is mainly because the trademark name is too awkward or is not distinctive enough to distinguish the source of the goods. What are the reasons for relative prohibition of registration? Generally speaking, the main reasons for relatively prohibiting registration include copying, imitating, and translating well-known trademarks registered or unregistered in China; agents or representatives and other relations who knowingly register prior trademarks; fraudulent use of geographical indications of others; identical trademarks with already existing trademarks; The previously registered or applied for trademarks are identical or similar; the registered trademark infringes upon prior copyright, design rights and other rights, or the registered trademark of others has a certain degree of influence. (For details, please see the following legal provisions)

In addition, what are prior rights holders and interested parties? The prior right holder is the owner of the right, such as the trademark owner and the design patent owner. It is usually clear and definite, but the interested parties are often difficult to determine. The "Trademark Review Standards" only generally stipulates three categories: 1 , the licensee of prior trademark rights and other prior rights. 2. The legal successor of prior trademark rights and other rights. 3. The pledgee of the prior trademark right. In short, anyone who has an interest in the prior right can be called an interested party.

Who can file a trademark objection? First, it is necessary to determine whether there are sufficient grounds for objection, and secondly, anyone can raise an objection if the absolute prohibition is violated. For violations of relative prohibitions, only prior rights holders or interested parties may raise objections.