In the process of trademark registration, trademark inquiry is an important step that cannot be ignored. By inquiring about the trademark registration of the Trademark Office, we can know whether the trademark to be applied for registration is the same as or similar to the trademark registered or being registered by others, which will greatly reduce the risk of trademark registration and improve the success of trademark registration ...
In the process of trademark registration, trademark inquiry is an important step that cannot be ignored. By inquiring about the trademark registration of the Trademark Office, we can know whether the trademark to be applied for registration is the same or similar to the trademark registered or being registered by others, which will greatly reduce the risk of trademark registration, improve the success rate of trademark registration and avoid the double loss of time and money.
what problems should be paid attention to in trademark inquiry? What are the hidden rules of trademark inquiry? Now, Xiaozhi will teach you the five golden rules of trademark inquiry, and help you to deal with trademark inquiry easily.
1. Know yourself and know yourself and win every battle
The function of trademark inquiry is to avoid the risk of trademark registration, among which the same or similar trademarks are the most common reasons for failure in the process of trademark registration. What is the approximate criterion for judging trademarks? What kind of trademarks belong to similar trademarks? These are all the knowledge that must be understood before trademark inquiry.
at the end of 25, the Trademark Review and Adjudication Board of China's State Administration for Industry and Commerce published the Standards for Trademark Examination, on which the trademark examiners of the Trademark Office judged the distinctiveness and similarity of trademarks. Knowing ourselves and knowing ourselves can win every battle. Fully understanding the Trademark Examination Standards within the Trademark Office will help the partners to judge the approximate situation of trademarks, thus reducing the risk of trademark registration failure.
2. Beware of hidden rules
Generally speaking, trademark query is a single-category query according to the category of goods or services. For example, if you want to register a clothing trademark, you need to make an approximate query in the 25th category. However, there are still cross-category approximations in the Table for Distinguishing Similar Goods and Services currently used by the Trademark Office. Serious? problem
Cross-category approximation means that goods or services that are not in the same category are highly similar in function, usage and use, sales channels, etc., so they form similar goods or services with each other. Such as 32 in the 3th category? Tea drinks? In terms of function and usage, it is the same as the 322? Non-alcoholic drinks? Similar, so the two in different categories are similar commodities.
when this happens, it is necessary for the applicant to make trademark inquiries in two categories respectively. However, in view of this special situation of cross-category approximation, two seemingly unrelated categories may often cause similarity. Xiaozhi still suggests that the applicant consult professionals with rich knowledge and experience in commodity classification to avoid trademark registration failure due to cross-category approximation.
in addition, the existence of well-known trademarks has also caused certain difficulties in trademark inquiry. China's Trademark Law stipulates that well-known trademarks registered in China enjoy cross-category protection, that is to say, even if a trademark is registered in a certain category, others may not register the same or similar trademarks in other categories because it is recognized as a well-known trademark.
Third, knowledge+experience determines the fate of a trademark
Trademark inquiry is not only to inquire about the approximate situation of a trademark, but also to judge whether the trademark violates the relevant provisions of the Trademark Law and whether the trademark is significant. This requires trademark applicants to fully understand the relevant provisions of Articles 1 and 11 of China's Trademark Law and the Regulations for the Implementation of the Trademark Law, carefully study the criteria for judging trademark approximation, and fully understand the trademark classification table with hundreds of pages?
in addition, the lack of experience is also an important factor that affects the applicant's trademark inquiry. Without experience, the applicant's approximate judgment and significant judgment on the trademark will be biased, which will not only reduce the accuracy of trademark inquiry, but also affect the trademark registration result and lead to the failure of registration.
The regular trademark agency has a group of professionals who are experienced and understand the trademark examination standards and evaluation rules, so the professional advice provided can effectively avoid human error and greatly improve the success rate of trademark registration. Therefore, it is necessary for partners who lack professional knowledge and experience to choose a reliable trademark agency.
IV. Details decide success or failure
When making trademark inquiries, some applicants will find the same or similar trademarks in the same category, but this does not mean that their trademarks cannot be registered. In fact, the trademark information inquired by the applicant on the trademark network includes not only the trademarks that are being applied for and registered, but also the trademarks that have failed to apply for and are invalid. Therefore, when the trademark is found to be similar, you can enter the trademark details page for details inquiry, and the specific information such as the process, status and validity period of this trademark will be displayed at the bottom of the page. If the trademark is invalid or the validity period has expired, the applicant may apply again. In the process of trademark registration, trademark inquiry is an important step that cannot be ignored. By inquiring about the trademark registration of the Trademark Office, we can know whether the trademark to be applied for registration is the same or similar to the trademark registered or being registered by others, which will greatly reduce the risk of trademark registration, improve the success rate of trademark registration and avoid the double loss of time and money.