Some start-up companies do not pay enough attention to trademark protection, resulting in trademark infringement lawsuits at key moments such as listing and financing, causing irreparable damage to the company's rights and interests, and greatly hindering development. So, what issues should startup companies pay attention to when registering trademarks in the early stage? The author of this article will help startup companies formulate trademark strategies from four aspects.
In recent years, faced with the increasingly severe employment situation, many college graduates have chosen to start a business to earn a pot of gold in life. Under the strong call of the country to "mass entrepreneurship and innovation", there are also some More and more company employees and civil servants are unwilling to be left alone and are joining the wave of entrepreneurship one after another. However, it is not difficult to see from the development of startups such as Didi Dache and Momo that some startups either do not pay enough attention to trademark protection or lack trademark expertise. They often fail to comprehensively and systematically effectively protect corporate trademarks in the early stage. Trademarks are frequently registered and infringed. Some startups even face trademark infringement lawsuits at major junctures such as listing and financing, causing irreparable damage to the company's rights and interests and greatly hindering the company's development. So, what issues should a startup company pay attention to when registering a trademark in the early stage?
Trademarks are crucial to the development of the company. If you want to fundamentally avoid this situation, you must implement it in your trademark strategy. Pay attention to the following aspects when it comes to trademark registration strategies:
1. Comprehensive search and timely registration
As we all know, trademark search is an aspect that cannot be ignored in the trademark registration process. Important steps. By checking the trademark registration status of the Trademark Office, you can find out whether the trademark to be applied for registration is the same or similar to the trademark that has been registered or is being registered by others. This will greatly reduce the risk of trademark registration, improve the success rate of trademark registration, and avoid the double waste of time and money. loss.
In fact, it is a commonplace question to conduct a trademark search before trademark registration, but I have to remind all entrepreneurs that trademark search is not just about simply entering the trademark name and category on the website designated by the Trademark Office. Yes, if you want to conduct a truly professional, comprehensive, and seamless trademark search, in addition to fully understanding the "Trademark Examination Standards" published by the Trademark Office, you must also fully understand the "Table of Distinction of Similar Goods and Services" and try to master it. For small items that are similar across categories, single-category searches and cross-searches can be conducted on the trademarks you want to register to minimize errors such as missed detections.
In addition, the existence of well-known trademarks is also a retrieval difficulty that cannot be ignored in trademark searches. my country’s Trademark Law stipulates that well-known trademarks registered in my country enjoy cross-category protection. That is to say, even if the trademark a startup company wants to register is not the same as the trademark category for which the well-known trademark has been registered, if the trademark name is the same or similar, Startups also cannot register the trademark. Therefore, it is also necessary to include some familiar well-known trademarks in the similar search list.
After conducting extensive trademark searches, timely registration becomes the top priority for startups. my country's trademark registration follows the "first to file principle". For an identical or similar trademark application, whoever files the application for trademark registration first will get the exclusive right to use the trademark. In layman's terms, the "first-to-file principle" means first-come, first-served. If a startup company fails to register a trademark in time, once the trademark is registered by others, the late-stage startup company will either spend a lot of money to redeem the trademark or be forced to give up the trademark. dilemma, therefore, applying for a trademark as early as possible is a crucial step in the trademark registration strategy of a startup company.
2. Carefully choose the trademark category and apply for registration of a defensive trademark
Selecting the category of goods or services is an inevitable step when an enterprise applies for trademark registration.
Our country adopts the "Classification Table of Similar Goods and Services" to divide goods and services into 45 major categories and several minor items. Objective conditions such as small business scale, relatively single business, and shortage of funds determine that startup companies have neither strength nor need. To register all categories, startups need to select the categories of goods or services as carefully and accurately as possible, register core categories, auxiliary categories and possible expanded business categories, and specify the scope of trademark protection as clearly and comprehensively as possible. If the application category is incorrect, not only will the trademark fail to protect the legitimate interests of enterprises and individuals, but it is also very likely that the trademarks will be similar during trademark registration, leading to failure of trademark registration.
In addition, in order to prevent unscrupulous merchants from "sitting on famous brands", "free riding", and rushing to register trademarks in the future, start-up companies can also adopt the form of registering defensive trademarks to comprehensively conduct trademark registration when registering trademarks. Protect. For example, the cocktail brand RIO (RIO), which became popular because of its sponsorship of the variety show "Running Brothers", when registering its trademark, it will use RI0, PIO, and R1O that are similar to the English trademark "RIO" and similar to the Chinese trademark RIO. Counterfeit trademarks such as Ruiao, Ruiao and Ruiao were collected one by one, and the company's legitimate rights and interests were effectively protected by its own "copycat" method.
3. Separate registration of combined trademarks
Combined trademarks have the advantages of rich pictures and texts, vivid images, and easy recognition. In addition, they can greatly save the cost of separate registrations, so they are widely recognized and recognized by start-up companies. use. However, my country adopts a single examination method for each constituent element of a combination trademark. The Trademark Office needs to examine the words, letters, graphics and other elements that constitute the combination trademark one by one, and ensure that all elements are not related to those that have been registered or are being registered by others. Only if the trademarks are identical or similar can they pass the examination. This invisibly increases the review process of the combined trademark, prolongs the review time, and greatly increases the risk of rejection of the combined trademark.
At the same time, there are also many inconveniences in the use of combined trademarks. After being approved for registration, when a startup company uses a combination trademark, it can only use the combination trademark as a whole mark. It is not allowed to change the combination method at will or use each combination element separately. Otherwise, the combination trademark will lose the effect of a registered trademark and will not be protected by law. Protect.
In other words, if someone else uses a certain part of the combined trademark without authorization, it is very likely that it will not be judged as infringement. This provides convenient conditions for trademark infringement. A well-known combination trademark, such as the well-known fast food brand KFC's "KFC graphic" (as shown below). Due to its wide brand awareness, the English and graphic parts of the combination trademark are highly identifiable, and will also cause confusion among consumers when used alone. Brand association, therefore, if each component of the combination trademark is not registered separately, there will be a great risk of infringement.
Therefore, when registering a trademark, it is better for startups to register the combined trademarks separately to reduce the risk of trademark rejection and avoid possible trademark infringements such as imitating famous brands in the future. They must not blindly register a combination just to save a small amount of money. trademark.
4. Collect evidence at any time to prepare for emergencies
The evidence here refers to the evidence of trademark use. After a startup company submits a trademark registration application, it may take as short as one and a half years, or as long as two or three years to obtain the trademark registration certificate. During this period, the startup company will use the trademark heavily and frequently, and the startup company should always use the trademark. Collect evidence of trademark use, which will play a vital role when the trademark faces risks of rejection, revocation, etc.
For example, Article 31 of my country’s Trademark Law stipulates the supplementary principle of the first-to-file principle—the first-to-use principle. That is to say, when two or more trademark registration applicants , if an application for registration of an identical or similar trademark on the same product or similar trademark is made on the same day, the previously used trademark shall be initially reviewed and announced.
Therefore, during the trademark application process, once an application is filed on the same day, the Trademark Office will issue a supplementary evidence of use notice to the applicant who applied on the same day. The applicant needs to submit evidence of prior use of the trademark within 30 days from the date of receipt of the notice from the Trademark Office.
At this time, the trademark use evidence collected by the startup company will determine the ownership of the trademark rights.
In addition, in the later process of trademark use, if the startup company encounters the threat of "withdrawal of three" or trademark infringement disputes, sufficient evidence of trademark use can also help the startup company effectively resolve the trademark crisis. Therefore, start-up companies should pay full attention to the collection, organization and archiving of trademark use evidence, and can quickly and timely produce effective evidence when needed to avoid missing opportunities and regretting it.
In future business operations, intellectual property strategies, including trademarks, will become increasingly important. As an important part of trademark strategy, how to successfully register trademarks is crucial for startups. It's important. Issues such as trademark registration procedures and registration categories will deeply affect the future development of startup companies. Therefore, only by considering trademark registration strategies in advance, minimizing trademark registration loopholes and taking precautions can startup companies achieve rapid development. In the knowledge economy, Be invincible in the "Internet" era dominated by China.