Although there are many risks involved in trademark transfer, as long as you make good preliminary inquiries, there will generally be no problems. Therefore, it is recommended to entrust an agency to handle the matter. The agency will check whether there are any problems with the trademark for you.

1. Whether the trademark has been approved for registration

If the trademark traded has not been registered at all, or has not been renewed in time when it expires, or has been revoked or invalid according to law, then there is no Legally, there are exclusive rights to trademarks. Anyone has the opportunity to use the trademark, and it may even be registered by others, thus hindering the rights such as ownership or use rights obtained from trademark transactions. Of course, assuming that the unregistered or unrenewed trademark is a well-known trademark or the unique name or appearance (packaging, decoration) of a well-known product, it can still enjoy the protection of the Trademark Law or the Anti-Unfair Competition Law. However, it must It is not easy to claim a well-known trademark or the unique name or appearance of a well-known product.

2. Is the trademark still under application for registration?

This is a continuation of the previous question. In some cases, although a trademark has not been approved for registration, a formal application for registration may have been filed. However, such a trademark may not be approved for registration due to legal obstacles such as lack of distinctiveness and infringement of prior rights.

The Supreme People's Court held that laws and regulations do not prohibit the licensing of others to use unregistered trademarks, and the parties to a trademark licensing contract have no special agreement on whether the trademark should be registered. Claims that the license contract is invalid on the grounds that failure to obtain registration constitutes fraud will not be supported. In fact, many courts have recognized that unregistered trademarks can be transferred and licensed. However, the legal and commercial risks of the transferee and licensee will be extremely huge. Therefore, you must check the other party’s trademark registration status. Of course, It should also be made clear when signing the contract that the trade mark must be a valid registered trademark. Because even if the trademark is finally approved for registration, trademark objections may occur during the process from trademark application to trademark approval and registration, leaving you exhausted.

3. Whether the other party has the right to dispose of the trademark right

After ascertaining the authenticity of the trademark registration, you must also find out whether the person you are dealing with has the right to dispose of the registered trademark. He is Not the right holder (registrant or owner) of this registered trademark, or the agent specifically authorized by the right holder, or the licensee who allows sub-licensing. If the trademark is owned by the owner, has it been approved by the owner? You can learn about the transaction trademark by checking the trademark registration certificate, trademark transfer contract, transaction authorization letter, or checking the Trademark Announcement or China Trademark Network. Who is the real right holder and who currently has the right to transfer, license or pledge the trademark.

4. Where is the trademark registration valid?

The validity of trademarks is regional. Trademarks registered in China are only valid in China, and trademarks registered in France are only valid in France. . If you want to obtain the ownership or use rights of a trademark in China, you must confirm that the trademark has been approved and registered in China. If you want to use this trademark to manufacture goods in China and export to Europe at the same time, then in addition to registering this trademark in China, you also need to obtain trademark registration in relevant European countries, otherwise you may encounter trademark infringement when exporting. trouble.

5. When does trademark registration expire?

Trademark registration has a time limit. The validity period under my country’s Trademark Law is 10 years. However, the registration can be renewed upon expiration. The key issue is that if the trademark registration is about to expire, the relevant transaction parties must urge the trademark registrant to complete the renewal procedures. Especially before the transfer (the extension after the transfer is the transferee's own business), or during the licensing and pledge period, it is necessary to ensure that the trademark registrant renews the registration to avoid damaging his or her commercial rights and interests.

6. Is the trademark traded consistent with the registered trademark?

Although the other party’s trademark has been approved and registered, is the trademark traded consistent with the approved registered trademark? According to the " Article 56 of the Trademark Law states, “The exclusive right to register a trademark is limited to the trademark approved for registration and the goods approved for use.

"Trademarks that are inconsistent with registered trademarks (especially those that are significantly different) may not enjoy the exclusive right to use the trademark. If you buy and use the registered trademark without care, it may also constitute an illegal act of changing the registered trademark on your own or counterfeiting the registered trademark.

7. What are the goods or services designated for use by the trademark?

The exclusive right of a registered trademark is limited to the goods or services approved for use. It is necessary to find out whether the right holder exceeds the scope of approved use. , issue licenses or engage in transfers, because this may cause issues such as trademark infringement. If others have registered the same or similar trademarks on goods or services beyond the approved use scope of the right holder, you must also check the products you need to use. Or business scope, whether it is consistent with the goods or services specified in the other party's trademark registration, and checking the compatibility of the other party's trademark registration with your own business is also a very important investigation.

8. Who owns the copyright of the trademark? In hand

Currently, trademarks are composed of rich elements, including text, graphics, letters, numbers, three-dimensional logos, color combinations and sounds, as well as combinations of the above elements. Texts (such as slogans) may meet the originality requirements of the work and enjoy copyright protection. However, the copyright of these trademarks may not be in the hands of the trademark owner. For example, according to the provisions of the copyright law, works commissioned by others. , in the absence of an agreement, the copyright belongs to the creator. Therefore, if the trademark owner entrusts others to create the trademark, and there is no agreement on ownership, even if the trademark enjoys copyright, it belongs to someone else. ” copyright, although the trademark owner can continue to legally use his trademark according to the purpose of commissioned creation.

9. Whether the trademark registration meets the authorization conditions

Trademark registration needs to meet the requirements of distinctiveness, A series of authorization conditions include non-functionality, non-banned marks, and non-infringement of the rights of others. Therefore, the traded trademark must be evaluated to prevent the trademark from being declared invalid in the future because it violates legal regulations or infringes on the rights of others. For example, the trademark must be invalid. The weak distinctiveness of a trademark has a huge impact on trademark protection. A trademark with weak distinctiveness is easy to be reasonably used by others (including competitors) and is difficult to prevent. It can be seen that the distinctiveness of a trademark has a huge impact on the scope of trademark protection or exclusive scope. The impact is huge.

10. Whether the trademark becomes a common name

According to Article 49, paragraph 2, of the 2013 new Trademark Law, a registered trademark becomes a common name for the goods it is approved for use. Any entity or individual can apply to the Trademark Office to cancel the registered trademark. In fact, brands such as Escalator, Thermos, Aspirin, and Nylon were originally registered by well-known companies. Trademarks later became common names for related products. In my country, trademarks such as "USB flash drive" and "Xuehua" (flour) were recognized as common names by the Trademark Review and Adjudication Board or the People's Court and lost their exclusive rights.

11. Whether there are identical or similar trademarks

If you acquire the ownership of the other party’s trademark through trademark transfer, corporate mergers and acquisitions, etc., in order to avoid market confusion caused by the existence of relevant commercial marks in the future, Even in violation of the mandatory provisions of the law, it is necessary to review whether the other party has commercial marks that are similar to the traded trademarks, and further consider whether it is necessary to transfer these related defensive trademarks, joint trademarks and other commercial marks.

According to the provisions of Article 42, Paragraph 2 of the Trademark Law, “When a registered trademark is transferred, the trademark registrant shall transfer a similar trademark registered on the same kind of goods, or a trademark registered on similar goods. Identical or similar trademarks shall be transferred together.” Paragraph 3 of this article stipulates: “For transfers that are likely to cause confusion or have other adverse effects, the Trademark Office will not approve the transfer and notify the applicant in writing and explain the reasons.” Trade marks, similar trademarks registered on the same or similar goods, and identical trademarks registered on similar goods shall be transferred together. This is a mandatory requirement under the Trademark Law, otherwise the transfer will encounter legal obstacles.

12. Whether the same or similar trademarks registered across categories are tolerated

The Trademark Law does not require the same or similar trademarks registered on different or similar goods as the trading trademarks. They must be transferred together. However, from the perspective of commercial prudence, it is still necessary to evaluate which categories of identical or similar trademarks should be acquired together to avoid business confusion in the future. For example, if the right holder has a trademark registered in Category 12 cars and Category 28 toys, it is best to acquire the trademark on the toys together with the trademark on the car. Do not split it into two companies after the acquisition, otherwise the trademark will be used in the future. The toy car will conflict with the trademark usage of your real car.

13. Is there a trade name or domain name that is the same as the trading trademark?

In order to effectively protect trademarks, some companies not only register defensive trademarks and joint trademarks, but also combine trademarks with trade names (enterprises) name) and domain name remain consistent. Although you bought the trademark, but they still retain the same font size or domain name as the trademark, you need to consider whether this is an acceptable result to you? If Shanghai Michi Toys Co., Ltd. sells the "Michi" toy trademark to You, but the other party is still called Mickey Toys Company after the trademark is sold. After all, it is an ambush bomb. Imagine that if the other party is still making toys, although it cannot use the "Michi" trademark, it still clearly displays "Michi Toys Company" on the toy products or its packaging. Will consumers be able to tell the difference clearly?

14. Does the trademark have any restrictions on pledges?

Assuming that a registered trademark has been pledged and then transferred to you, obviously this is not a good thing. Because once the debt guaranteed by the trademark cannot be paid off, the pledgee (creditor) has the right to use the exclusive right to the trademark at a discount, or to receive priority in repayment with the price from the auction or sale of the exclusive right to the trademark.

15. Whether the trademark is subject to licensing restrictions

In addition to the pledge of trademark rights, there are also restrictions on trademarks such as existing licensing agreements, especially exclusive licenses. According to the characteristics of an exclusive license, except for the licensee, the trademark owner is not allowed to issue licenses to third parties, nor can it use the trademark itself. If there is already an exclusive license, you are not allowed to obtain a second trademark license from the right holder. Otherwise, you will get an unstable license, and the licensee who enjoys the exclusive license will soon come to interfere. If the transferred trademark has been licensed to the outside world, according to similar rules of "sales do not break the lease", the transferee will still be bound by the previous license, and there may even be a situation where the transferee enjoys ownership but cannot use it (such as third party has an exclusive license).

16. Is there any dispute over the trademark?

Is there any dispute over the trademark in the transaction, such as ownership dispute, cancellation of registration or declaration of invalidity? If these disputes exist, the other party may lose control of the transaction in the future. Ownership of a trademark, or even registration of a trade mark, ceases to exist due to revocation or invalidity. It is worth noting that in some trademark contract dispute cases, if there is no explicit agreement, even though the trademark registrant does not disclose the facts of the trademark dispute, he does not need to bear liability for breach of contract.

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