Introduction: Trademark transfer has become a popular way to obtain trademarks. However, in the process of transferring registered trademarks, do you know what issues should be paid attention to, what are the precautions, and disputes that arise? This article will provide readers with a series of issues that should be known about trademark transfer from multiple aspects. , for the enjoyment of readers.

1. Matters that should be paid attention to when transferring registered trademarks

In the existing registered trademark transfer procedures, the rights and interests of the trademark transferor, especially the transferee, are often in an extremely vulnerable position. The location of the violation. Therefore, when handling a trademark transfer, the parties involved in a trademark transfer should not only treat every aspect of the transfer procedure with caution, but should also consult or use a high-level and highly qualified trademark agent to effectively avoid risks. The following example problems are all likely to be encountered in practice.

1. The issue of illegal transfer

The so-called illegal transfer of a registered trademark means that the transferor of the registered trademark is not the owner of the registered trademark, or the transferor does not obtain the consent of the owner of the registered trademark rights. And secretly transferred its registered trademark through fraud and other unfair means. Due to the objective loopholes in the existing trademark transfer procedures, it is not difficult to do such a thing. Although it is entirely possible to solve and protect the interests of the trademark rights holders through legal channels afterwards, the heavy losses suffered by the parties will be irreparable. of.

2. The issue of invalid transfer

The so-called invalid transfer means that the transfer of a registered trademark does not comply with the restrictions stipulated in the trademark law, although both parties to the trademark transfer have signed a trademark transfer agreement, and Party B has also paid the trademark transfer fee, but it is impossible for the registered trademark transfer application to be approved by the State Trademark Office. Therefore, the transfer of the trademark is invalid because the trademark cannot be transferred, so the owner of the trademark remains unchanged. Since the National Trademark Office takes four to six months to review the transfer of a registered trademark, and after the transferor and the two parties sign a trademark transfer agreement, they need to pay the transfer fee, prepare relevant trademark transfer application documents, mail and print them, etc. Therefore, after the trademark transfer agreement is signed, it cannot be immediately determined whether the transferred trademark can be approved for transfer and registration by the State Trademark Office, and it will take at least six months to know. The uncertainty of trademark rights during this time gap makes it easy for trademark assignees to be infringed. If it is due to a well-intentioned mistake at work, it can be made up for and corrected afterwards; but for premeditated malicious behavior, the assignee will suffer huge economic losses.

3. Partial transfer issue

The so-called partial transfer means that the transferor of the registered trademark does not transfer other similar similar trademarks related to the transferred trademark rights to the trademark transferee. The transferor intentionally or unintentionally retains or conceals some similar trademarks that are similar to the transferred trademark. After the transfer of the trademark, the transferor can still use other trademarks that are similar to the transferred trademark, causing substantial harm to the trademark transferee. of harm. The issue of partial transfer is essentially one of the cases of invalid transfer. Although, in order to avoid this situation, Paragraph 2 of Article 25 of the "Trademark Law Implementation Regulations" has made clear provisions, and the State Trademark Office also conducts strict review of applications for trademark transfer in this regard, we must beware of bad intentions. Those who take advantage of loopholes in the law.

4. The problem of concealing the rights and interests of the transferred trademark

When the trademark transferor transferred the trademark, he concealed that the trademark had been licensed to others before the transfer and was pledged to pay off the debt. Issues such as being transferred and so on have caused the actual rights and interests of the trademark transferee to be damaged and eroded after the trademark was transferred.

2. Issues that should be paid attention to when applying for trademark registration and transfer

1. Issues with invalid applications

What is obtained after the trademark registration application is accepted? Acceptance of trademark registration application The notification letter only indicates that the applicant's subject qualifications and trademark application documents meet the requirements for trademark registration applications. The trademark registration application has been accepted by the Trademark Office and entered the review process. It does not indicate the likelihood of the trademark registration application being successful or other What's the meaning. From an extreme point of view, even if a trademark is absolutely impossible to be registered because it violates the provisions of the law, as long as the applicant and application documents comply with the regulations, a "trademark registration application acceptance notice" can still be obtained. Therefore, a trademark registration application that is unlikely to be approved for registration is called an invalid application. Obviously, if the trademark transferee obtains an invalid application, the result will be nothing.

2. Multiple Application Issues

If a trademark registration applicant applies for an identical or similar trademark twice or more in the same category, the applicant will If the latter trademark registration application is transferred to another person, even if the trademark is very creative and registrable, the assignee of the trademark will never be able to obtain the trademark, because the trademark law stipulates that two or more If a trademark registration applicant applies for registration of an identical or similar trademark on the same product or similar products, the trademark that was applied for first shall be preliminarily reviewed and announced;? Therefore, when applying for transfer of trademark registration, it is necessary to prevent such risks and avoid unnecessary losses.

3. Disputes regarding trademark transfer

1. Disputes regarding trademark transfer that are caused by internal problems within the enterprise are within the scope of civil legal disputes. Generally, the parties concerned need to To resolve and protect one's rights and interests through judicial proceedings. As the administrative department, the Trademark Office generally will not intervene. However, if the trademark transfer application is still in the transfer review process of the Trademark Office, in order to facilitate the parties to assert their rights, the Trademark Office will give the parties a reasonable time limit for this type of trademark transfer dispute, and the parties should go through the judicial process as soon as possible. If the time limit is exceeded, the Trademark Office will continue to conduct the corresponding normal trademark transfer review procedures. Once the trademark transfer application is approved and announced by the Trademark Office, the trademark transfer has actually produced legal effect. When it comes to legal authority issues, the parties concerned can only apply for evidence preservation measures from the court to temporarily freeze the implementation of the rights after the trademark is transferred, and resolve related trademark transfer disputes through litigation proceedings.

2. For the illegal transfer of counterfeit and counterfeit trademarks, the local public security department needs to conduct criminal identification of forged seals, documents, illegal misappropriation of property, etc., and then resolve it through judicial procedures.

3. Administrative disputes arising from administrative decisions made by the Trademark Office such as “Not Acceptable” or “Not Approved” can be resolved by reporting to the State Administration for Industry and Commerce, administrative reconsideration, or administrative litigation. .

4. For the transfer of a registered trademark, the trademark transferee only has all the legal rights and interests of the transferred trademark from the date of approval and announcement. However, before the announcement of the approval of the transfer of registered trademark, the actual rights and interests of the transferred trademark still remain Belongs to the trademark assignor. Therefore, regarding the issue of trademark rights and interests during the review of the transfer application, the parties to the trademark transfer can only agree on the corresponding rights in advance in the trademark transfer contract. In order to protect the interests of both parties, it is better for the assignor and the assignee to sign a transfer agreement before applying for a trademark. The agreement will explain all the possible issues listed above one by one and go to the local notarization office. Notarized everywhere. Trademark transfer