Combined applications will be reviewed separately; if there is difficulty in one area, the entire trademark will be rejected

The so-called combined application is to combine various elements contained in a trademark and apply for registration as a whole trademark. For example, if you apply for registration of Chinese and English graphics as a trademark, you only need to pay one amount to apply for registration of a category.

Separate examination means that when the Trademark Office examiner examines the trademark, he will examine the various elements contained in the trademark separately. For example, if a trademark application for registration contains Chinese characters, letters, and graphics, the Trademark Office examiner will examine the Chinese language separately, the English language separately, and the graphics separately...

If there is difficulty in one part, the entire trademark will be rejected. . If a certain element contained in the trademark is found to be inconsistent with the regulations during separate examination and affects the overall distinctiveness, it will be rejected together with other elements and the trademark will not be registered. For example, if the graphic is found to be inconsistent with the regulations during the review and occupies an important position in the entire trademark, it will be rejected together with the Chinese and English versions. If the reexamination continues, it will take another year and a half to know the result. Will the result really be successful?

Imagine if you apply for registration separately for the various elements contained in the trademark, even if the Chinese cannot be registered, the English and graphics will still have a chance to be successfully registered. Especially if the trademark has not yet been successfully registered and the product has been put on the market, those who can get the trademark registration certificate first should try their best to get it first. The shopping mall is like a battlefield. It’s too late to make up for the situation!

If the combined application is not used in a standardized way, the trademark right may be lost easily, but if the separate application is used, it is flexible

According to the provisions of Article 49, Paragraph 1 of the new Trademark Law: the trademark registrant is using During the process of registering a trademark, if a person changes the registered trademark, the name of the registrant, the address or other registration matters on his own initiative, the local industrial and commercial administration department will order him to make corrections within a time limit; if he fails to make corrections within the time limit, the Trademark Office will revoke his registered trademark.

Trademarks applied for in combination should be used together. Huide found that trademarks applied for in combination are often used separately, which results in irregular use and is easily exploited by competitors. If a competitor complains about the trademark If the Trademark Office revokes your trademark, it will really be a failure!

Why apply separately? After the separate application and registration are successful, the use will be more flexible ~ it will not cause irregular use and can be used alone. For example, in the electronics industry, using Chinese when promoting in China facilitates the spread of brand (trademark) awareness! Using English on products looks classy! The majority of consumers can think of a certain product when they see a graphic. That is really the highest level of branding! Represents identity! status! glory!

It is difficult to protect rights by applying in combination, but it is easy to protect rights by applying separately

Applying for trademark registration is because you are afraid that someone will counterfeit the trademark in the market and cause market chaos. Trademark registrants can legally protect their rights. When judges or law enforcement agencies review whether a trademark constitutes similar infringement, they largely consider it from the perspective of ordinary consumers. To put it simply, placing two trademarks at a distance for comparison, which easily causes visual confusion, constitutes infringement.

If someone else only uses one of the elements of a combined trademark application (such as the English part), when comparing the Chinese and English graphic trademarks with a single English trademark, it will be difficult to defend the rights!

Trademarks that have been applied for separately can easily cause consumer confusion when it is found that similar goods or services are being copied in the market. This can be a direct and efficient way to safeguard rights, and can also deter some opportunistic counterfeiters!

There are a lot of discussions about the advantages of applying for trademark registration separately. Are there no disadvantages? Answer: Only 1! The fee is doubled, tripled, tripled... Applying for registration separately is equivalent to registering multiple trademarks. It turns out that a trademark includes Chinese, English, and graphics, and each category only costs one cent. Now applying for registration separately is equivalent to applying to register three trademarks, and one category costs three cents! ! ! (Speechless...)

Guests can choose to apply in combination or separately. Not all combination trademarks should be registered separately. If applying for registration separately will lack distinctiveness, it is not recommended to apply for registration separately.

As a leading professional intellectual property service organization in the industry, Huide provides case analysis and suggestions based on many years of agency experience to avoid detours in corporate development and support innovation and development!