The value of a brand in the market economy is immeasurable. In particular, the formation of a well-known brand requires decades or even hundreds of efforts and contributions from business people. Now some domestic companies have changed their thinking and directly purchased foreign brands overseas and put them into the domestic market. But you know what? Due to the different national conditions of each country, some relevant laws and rules are also slightly different. Some operators have not specifically understood them, which will cause operational difficulties.
Background:
A Chinese company reached an agreement with an Italian family business through a brand operation management company and acquired its brand at a high price. The Italian family business The brand has a certain degree of popularity, but it has been poorly managed in recent years and has entered bankruptcy liquidation procedures. The acquired brands involve trademark registrations in many countries and regions in the European Union, the United States, the Middle East, China, and Japan. Chinese companies encounter various obstacles in the trademark transfer process in some of the above-mentioned countries.
China is different from many countries: the transfer of registered trademarks in China is based on application. That is, the transferor and the transferee must submit a transfer application to the official at the same time. Only after the official review and approval can the registered trademark be transferred from the transferor's name to the transferee's name. The National Trademark Office is very strict in its review of submitted transfer documents. In practice, in addition to requiring both parties to sign a transfer application together, both parties are also required to issue a power of attorney and subject qualification certification documents to the trademark agent respectively. All in all, it is more formal and the procedures are more cumbersome.
Middle East and Arab countries: Countries in this region have more and more complicated document requirements for the review of registered trademark transfers, and usually require the parties to consularly authenticate the transfer deed and power of attorney. In addition to the cost, the certification process often takes a long time.
In addition to the requirements for consular authentication, trademark transfer in Saudi Arabia (including other changes or filing procedures) also requires the party to provide the original trademark registration certificate. If it cannot be provided, the party needs to apply for a replacement trademark registration certificate.
Many countries will charge a deed tax when approving a transfer. For example: when the Lebanese official approves the transfer of a registered trademark, a tax of three thousandths will be charged based on the price involved in the transfer deed in the transfer registration. Therefore, in practice, it is common practice for both parties to sign a separate transfer contract with a nominal bid of US$1 to avoid being taxed.
United States: The procedure for transferring a registered trademark in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office is very simple. The parties need to pay attention to the use of the trademark, because the U.S. official requires registrants to regularly submit statements of use and evidence of use to maintain Validity of Trademark Registration.
Given that trademark protection varies from country to country, it is recommended to find a professional trademark agency to avoid unnecessary obstacles or unnecessary losses.