If you want to be a unique trademark, you must do a good job in designing trademarks. Xiaobian will share the compiled principles of designing trademarks with you. Welcome to read, for reference only!
principles of trademark design and planning
general trademarks can contain words and patterns. However, we suggest that when you apply for a registered trademark, it is best to focus on words. This is because: when applying for a registered trademark, the inquiry of existing trademarks (including registered and unregistered trademarks) is mainly based on words. This makes it difficult to judge whether your trademark pattern is the same or similar to an existing trademark pattern. There is no doubt that the inclusion of trademark patterns in the registration of trademarks greatly enhances the probability of rejection of registered trademark applications. At the same time, even if your application is approved, the possibility of others suing you in the future will greatly increase. For example, McDonald's successfully blocked other golden bow patterns similar to those in its trademark in court several times. This means that the owners of these trademarks must give up their currently registered trademarks, redesign and apply for new registered trademarks.
first, the best thing is that word mark
one of the most important criteria for judging whether a trademark is similar is to see whether its words are similar to those in other trademarks. If you successfully register a word mark, you have actually deprived others of the right to use the same name to promote their products or services, no matter how different the logo of its trademark is from yours. This has actually achieved the purpose of your trademark registration;
Except for a few trademarks with huge advertising investment and extremely special design, it is generally difficult for people to remember the pattern of a trademark and establish the connection between the trademark pattern and the product or service on this basis. What your customers can remember is the literal content of your trademark. Registering in word mark can get twice the result with half the effort;
when using a registered trademark in the future, you can put the registered trademark (with? Mark) and unregistered logo used at the same time. Intuitively, this is not much different from registering the trademark pattern with the text.
and another advantage of this is that if you need to modify the logo in the future, you don't need to apply for a new trademark. History has proved that the frequency of trademark pattern modification is far greater than that of trademark text modification.
of course, if the logo you designed is really different and has great market value, you should include it when you apply. Another feasible method is to register the design trademark separately from word mark. In this way, even if the registration of the design trademark is rejected, or the design trademark is challenged by others' trademark infringement in the future, it will not affect your registered word mark.
Second, it is necessary to have a beautiful English name
In fact, it is necessary for an enterprise to take a name composed of English letters for internationalization and transnational operation. This is because of the internationalization of enterprises, corporate logos and standard words are easy to be recognized, accepted and pronounced by as many people as possible around the world. That is, people of any region, color, race and culture can recognize it.
because English letters and Arabic numerals are symbols that are recognized by intellectuals of different nationalities, cultures and skin colors all over the world, corporate logos and standard words with English letters as elements must be universally applicable and universally accepted. With the exception of English letters, the marks composed of any other elements have strong regional and national characteristics, which increases the difficulty of communication and makes it difficult to be famous all over the world.
Japan's Sony, Panasonic, Honda, Toyota, Germany's Siemens, and Sweden's Ericcson all use non-native English letters as company names and brand names.
third, do I need to register a trademark in Chinese after applying for registration of an English trademark?
yes. Due to the huge aesthetic and understanding differences caused by cultural differences, the business gap can only be reduced through localization. Therefore, your registered Chinese trademark is very likely to be different from your English trademark in all aspects. So it is still necessary for you to apply for a registered trademark in Chinese.
iv. separate registration of local (cultural language) and English
One registration is to practise economy, but separate registration brings great flexibility. Among the well-known brands in various countries, one-in-one registration is very rare.
V. Trademark uniqueness is very important
The logo composed of trademark elements is generally a word, which did not exist before you used it.
in trademark examination, this issue is called "distinctiveness", that is, uniqueness. This is what puzzles many people in China. They all like to choose well-known words, such as "Lenovo", "China" and "Great Wall". In fact, these are all bad trademarks.
The connotation and information contained in the word enterprise trademark should be all about this enterprise. The public's audio-visual perception comes into contact with this sign, and all the information reflected in their minds is about this enterprise, and there will never be other miscellaneous information that interferes with the information dissemination of the enterprise. On the contrary, if this word is existing and meaningful, then when the public comes into contact with this word, the information of this word reflected in their minds will be difficult to understand, which will affect the accurate and clear external communication of enterprise information.
this kind of brand name difference is not easy to protect, and it will also lead to ambiguity. sometimes a word is positive in the United States, and it may be derogatory in Islamic countries, which is not in line with the world-wide principles. For example, the domestic "sailboat" carpet encountered great obstacles when it came out, because the English "Junk" of sailboat not only means sailing, but also means garbage and rags. The white elephant battery in Shanghai has the same experience, because "awhiteelephant" is a "useless thing". It can be seen that an international brand name that is universally feasible is best an English word that has no meaning in itself. Such as IBM and Rejoice are good examples.
a simple and effective method is to search in a famous search engine, and it is appropriate to have a small number of results.
6. Simple spelling, beautiful melody, catchy, easy to remember and spread orally
In fact, Japanese products have been invincible in the international market since the late 196s. Apart from the well-known reasons of the government's excellent macro-control, industrial policies and team spirit, the first-class business philosophy of Japanese enterprises and international corporate visual identity are also important reasons. Brand logos and standard words of most international first-class enterprises in Japan are designed according to the above principles, such as YAMAHA, HONDA, KENWOOD, PANASONIC, SONY, TOSHIBA, CITIZEN, SEIKO, NISSAN, TOYOTA, CANON, RICOH, CASIO, etc. South Korea, the United States, Germany and other successful enterprises and brands also basically follow this principle, such as IBM, AT&; T, AST, MOTOROLA, SIEMENS, LAWPANEL, INTEL, SAMSUG, DAIWOOD, etc., among the international famous brands created by Taiwan Province, KENNEX (tennis racket), PROTON (color TV-challenging and defeating SONY in the United States) and ACER (Acer computer) are all planned according to the above international principles. However, Green Power and New Dongyang, which are well-known in China but have not been internationalized, are basically limited to operating in Chinese-speaking areas, and their outward expansion is weak.
It can be seen that international famous brands, whether from English-speaking countries or non-English-speaking countries, generally have to adopt an English "foreign name". To measure whether to revitalize the national industry depends mainly on whether the domestic market can resist the invasion of foreign brands; Whether it is possible to beat domestic brands to the doorstep of foreigners; Whether it has a higher market share than foreign brands on a global scale. In a word, it is better than foreign brands, and it has nothing to do with whether or not to take foreign names. If you really want to become a multinational enterprise, your products will sell well all over the world, but you can't do it without taking a foreign name. Taking "foreign names" can not only pave the way for internationalization, but also greatly improve the brand's taste. Imagine that Changhong's "changhong" logo and Konka's "Konka" logo are posted on the same TV, which one is more tasteful?
VII. The brand name (trade name) is consistent with the brand trademark
At present, in developed countries, it has become a common practice to use the selected part of the trade name as a trademark application for registration. Such as "Hitachi" and "Toyota" in Japan and "Bayer" in Germany. The integration of trademarks and trade names not only receives the effect of simultaneous publicity of trademarks and trade names, but also can be protected by dual legal systems.
At present, laws and regulations in Chinese mainland prohibit domestic enterprises from using languages other than their own, including English as font size (TCL is an odd exception). It is certain that this rule will be changed sooner or later. Trademarks and trade names belong to enterprise strategies, and enterprises should take a long-term view.
VIII. The domain name is consistent with the brand trademark
If you want to apply for the registration of the American trademark in the future and can put it on the registered trademark? You must prove that the trademark you want to register is "in use" in the United States, that is, you are using your trademark to promote your products or services in the United States. How can we meet this harsh condition? A more convenient and effective way is to register and run a website with the address of "Your Trademark Text (English). COM". In this way, you have sufficient evidence to prove that the trademark you want to register has been used in the United States.
registering and running a website with the same trademark as yours (English) may have unexpected benefits. First of all, if you find that your trademark (English) has been registered as a website address by others, you should redesign your trademark in time. This is because in this case, even if you successfully registered your trademark, the owner of the website can still sue you for infringing his trademark right because he used the trademark in front of you.
in addition, registering and running a website consistent with the registered trademark virtually enhances the overall image of your registered trademark. In the era of electronic commerce, if an enterprise (or a trademark) does not have its own website, it will easily arouse others' guesses.
IX. Avoid being similar to any famous trademark
The ownership of a trademark is determined by the prior rights of the trademark. In other words, whoever uses a trademark first will own the trademark. Therefore, to judge whether a trademark infringes the rights of another trademark depends on who uses the trademark first.
However, not any two identical trademarks are not allowed to coexist. At this time, another criterion for judging whether a trademark is infringing is whether the appearance of a new trademark will make the customer of the first trademark mistakenly regard the second identical trademark as the first trademark. If two trademarks are in completely different industries or different regions, have different customer groups and have different sales channels, then two identical trademarks can coexist.
however, this criterion does not apply to those famous trademarks. For example, if you use the McDonald's trademark or even a similar pattern to sell a car, it seems that it has nothing to do with the fast food sold by McDonald's, and the court will still judge you for infringement. In fact, even if the final judgment of the court is in your favor, it is difficult for you to have the energy and financial resources to deal with a big company in court until the day when the judge decides.
Therefore, an important principle when choosing a trademark is to avoid being similar to any famous trademark. Otherwise, it will bring you endless trouble.
1. after I successfully registered the trademark, can I guarantee the legal status of the registered trademark 1%?
unfortunately, the answer to this question is "no".
This is because it is the China Trademark Office that approves the registered trademark. However, it is all kinds of people's judges and people's courts in China who judge whether a registered trademark infringes on other trademark rights. Because there is no absolute standard for trademark infringement, even in the same people's court, the judgments of various people's judges may be different.
Therefore, even if you successfully registered a trademark in, you can't guarantee the legality of your trademark 1%.
What is trademark design
Trademark design is the embodiment and expression of trademark creativity, and it is the concretization and achievement of trademark ideas by artistic means. The following four points outline the specific characteristics of trademark design:
(1) Avoid imitation and follow others' footsteps.
imitation or partial imitation of other people's trademarks will make their own trademarks lose originality. If someone else has registered the trademark "A Dream of Red Mansions" on alcoholic products, you will not only lose originality, but also find it difficult to approve the registration application if you apply for "A Dream of Red Mansions", "A Family of Red Mansions" or "Drunken Red Mansions".
(2) moderate complexity, easy to read and remember.
It is necessary to give full consideration to the ease of recognition and memory, and pay attention to the fact that words or graphics are too simple to lose their distinctive features.
(3) Suggest characteristics, embody creativity, and embody creativity.
it should be associated with the goods or services designated by the trademark, so that people can associate with the characteristics of the goods or services and fully reflect the conception of the trademark.
(4) Combining with decoration, the priority is clear.
trademarks should be coordinated with packaging and decoration design, and trademarks should not be designed as buttons and placed in inconspicuous positions. Trademark should occupy a prominent central position in the packaging, and the whole decoration design should take trademark as the core, so as not to usurp the host's role, otherwise, it will be difficult to play the shopping-oriented role of trademark.
how to register a trademark
choose your favorite trademark. The range that can be selected includes characters, figures, numbers, letters, color combinations, and any combination of the above elements. According to the latest trademark law, sound can also be registered as a trademark.
to the official database and trademark inquiry system? China Trademark Network? Inquire about the prior registration, evaluate the registration risk, revise it repeatedly, finally determine the trademark to be registered, and make the trademark logo pattern.
Prepare application materials for trademark registration:
1. Application for trademark registration;
2. power of attorney (if an agency is entrusted);
3. main certification materials (personal ID card and individual business license, business license of the company as an enterprise legal person).
4. Submit application materials. It must be submitted in person in the registration hall of the State Trademark Office.
5. Wait for formal examination by the Trademark Office, and issue a notice of trademark acceptance after passing the examination. The time is about 6-8 working days (that is, about 3-4 months). If the formal review fails, it is necessary to make corrections or resubmit the application.
you can stamp the trademark after receiving the notice of trademark acceptance? TM? Identification for use.
6. It takes about 16 months from submitting the application to finally obtaining the trademark registration certificate, of which about 3 months after submitting the application, the first 9 months after accepting it are scheduled for review, the last 3 months are the announcement period after passing the examination by the Trademark Office, and finally it takes about 1 month to make and issue the certificate. Applicants should always pay attention to whether there are objections raised by others during the announcement period, and submit an objection defense according to the notice of objection defense issued by the Trademark Office to safeguard their legitimate rights and interests.
7. After the above process, if it is successful, you can get the trademark registration certificate. The term of trademark registration and protection is 1 years. You can apply for trademark renewal 12 months before the expiration, and the official fee is 2, yuan (it can be renewed within the extension period of 6 months after the expiration, but you need to pay an extra extension fee of 5 yuan). After this renewal, the term of trademark exclusive right is extended for 1 years, and the use can be extended repeatedly.
the above are the principles of design trademarks provided by xiaobian. I hope you can enjoy them.