First of all, we should understand that the so-called similarity here is not up to you or the trademark agency, and it must be reviewed by the staff of the State Trademark Office. For example, if the staff says that the similarity is too high, then your trademark application will only be rejected.
so, how to avoid this risk? What is the approximate examination standard of trademarks by the Trademark Office? The following similar trademark applications must not be touched!
(1) word mark approximation
1. Chinese characters of Chinese trademarks are the same, but the font, design and arrangement order are different, so they are judged as approximate trademarks.
2。 A trademark consists of the same foreign language, letters or numbers, and is judged as an approximate trademark only with different fonts or designs.
3。 A trademark consists of two foreign words, only the word order is different, and there is no obvious difference in meaning, so it is judged as an approximate trademark.
4。 Chinese trademarks are composed of three or more Chinese characters, and only a few Chinese characters are different, so they are judged as approximate trademarks.
5。 A foreign trademark consists of four or more letters, and only a few letters are different, so it is judged as an approximate trademark.
6。 Trademark characters are similar in font, pronunciation and meaning, and are judged as similar trademarks
7. Where the words of a trademark have the same or similar meanings, and it is easy for the relevant public to misunderstand the source of goods or services, it is judged as an approximate trademark.
8。 Trademark words are formed by overlapping words, and are judged as approximate trademarks.
9。 A trademark is judged as an approximate trademark by adding the common name and model of the commodity or adjectives or adverbs that play a decorative role to other people's prior trademarks.
(2) Graphic trademark approximation
1. The composition of the trademark graphic is similar to the overall appearance, and it is judged as an approximate trademark.
11。 A trademark completely contains a graphic trademark previously registered by others and is judged to be an approximate trademark.
(3) the combination trademark is similar to
12. In principle, a combined trademark is examined by elements, that is, if the Chinese characters, foreign languages, letters, numbers and graphics in the combined trademark are identical or similar, it is easy for the relevant public to misunderstand the source of goods or services, and it is judged as an approximate trademark.
Examination criteria for trademark identity
In addition to the above-mentioned 12 approximate misunderstandings, some trademark registrations will be judged as trademark identity, so that trademark registration will be rejected because of similarity. The three criteria for trademark identity are:
(1) word mark identity
The so-called word mark identity means that trademarks use the same characters and have the same composition and arrangement order, even because of font, letter case or text arrangement.
(II) Graphic trademarks are the same
The so-called graphic trademarks are the same, which means that the trademarks look basically the same and are judged to be the same trademarks.
(III) The combination trademarks are the same
The so-called combination trademarks are the same, which means that the text composition, graphic appearance and arrangement and combination of trademarks are the same, so that the trademarks are basically the same as a whole.
By avoiding these factors as much as possible, we can avoid being rejected because of the similarity of trademark registration.