(I) Registration Procedure
Trademark registration is a trademark legal procedure. An application filed by an applicant for trademark registration shall be preliminarily examined and approved by the Trademark Office. If no objection is raised within three months or the objection is ruled invalid, the trademark shall become effective and protected by law, and the trademark registrant shall enjoy the exclusive right to use the trademark. It takes about one year to one and a half years for a trademark to be registered. There is no statutory time limit for the approval or rejection of an application for trademark registration. At present, the trademark is generally announced in the first instance about 15 months from the date of application (earlier if it is rejected). If there is no objection to the trademark within 3 months from the date of the announcement of the first instance, the Trademark Office will approve and announce the trademark, and then issue a trademark registration certificate, and the trademark will be approved. The time period of trademark examination will change at any time according to the speed of internal examination in the Trademark Office. The term of validity of a registered trademark is ten years, counting from the date of approval of registration. If the registered trademark expires and needs to be used continuously, it may apply for renewal of registration.
1. Trademark inquiry
Trademark inquiry refers to whether the trademark applied for by the applicant for trademark registration or his agent is the same as or similar to the trademark with prior rights before applying for registration. Inquiry is not a necessary procedure for trademark registration. The scope of inquiry is limited to registered trademarks and trademarks in application that have entered the database of the Trademark Office since the date of inquiry, and it does not contain prior rights information in the review state. The result has no legal effect, and it is only for reference, and it is not the basis for the Trademark Office to approve or reject the application. The following situations need to be noticed: 1) Words that lack distinctiveness or are prohibited by trademark law cannot be queried to determine whether their application for registration can be approved; 2) If the same or similar trademark of the previous application has not entered the database of the Trademark Office at the time of inquiry, the inquiry results will not be reflected because of the similarity of the two times; 3) If the inquiry report provides several trademarks that may be similar, the agent only makes an analysis through general examination standards and experience, and his opinions are for reference only and cannot represent the examination opinions of the Trademark Office; 4) For a combined trademark, if only a part of the trademark (such as Chinese or English) is inquired, but other parts (such as graphics) in the actually applied trademark are the same as or similar to others' registered trademarks, the whole trademark will be rejected; 5) The client only provided the name of the trademark when inquiring, but the difference in font, color, structure or arrangement in the trademark design draft provided in the actual application will also lead to the query result not fully reflecting the same or similar degree.
2. Trademark review
Trademark review is divided into formal review and substantive review. (1) trademark form review (3-4 months). Trademark form review refers to whether the documents and procedures for applying for trademark registration are in compliance with the law. If they are in compliance with the law, the review agency will compile the application number and determine the application date. It is very important to establish the date of application. As the principle of prior application is adopted in trademark registration in China, once the date of application occurs, it becomes the legal basis for determining the trademark right. The date of application for trademark registration is based on the date when the Trademark Office receives the application, and the Trademark Office receives the notice of acceptance for the application that meets the formal requirements. (2) Examination of the substance of a trademark (12 months). Examination of the substance of a trademark is a series of activities such as examination, data retrieval, analysis and comparison, investigation and study, and decision to give a preliminary examination or reject the application by the trademark registration authority. In the meantime, please don't mark the registration marks (such as "registered trademark" and "?") before the trademark is approved for registration. Etc.), you can mark "TM". In addition, before the registration is approved, it is not advisable to make too many products and packages with the trademark or trademark logos at one time to prevent unnecessary losses caused by the registration being blocked.
3. Announcement of preliminary examination
The examination and approval of a trademark refers to the decision to allow the registration of an application for trademark registration that meets the relevant provisions of the Trademark Law after examination. And make an announcement in the Trademark Announcement. If no one raises any objection within three months from the date of publication of the preliminary examination and approval announcement, the trademark shall be registered and a registration announcement shall be published at the same time. If no one raises an objection within three months or the objection is ruled invalid, the trademark will become effective and a registration certificate will be issued.
(2) Trademark registration fees
Registration fees are charged by category and number. 1 yuan and 9 yuan (ten-year validity period, including ten-year fees) are charged for each trademark of each category.
(3) Information required for trademark registration
1. If you apply in the name of a natural person, you need a copy of your ID card. If you apply for registration with an enterprise as the applicant, you need a copy of the Business License and an official seal.
2. 1 trademark designs. For color trademarks with specified colors, 1 colored patterns and 1 black-and-white ink draft shall be submitted. The trademark pattern provided must be clear, easy to paste, replaced by bright and durable paper or photos, and the length and width should be no more than 1 cm and less than 5 cm (about the size of a business card). Where the direction of the trademark pattern is unclear, the arrow shall be used to indicate the top and bottom. When applying for the trademark of cigarettes and cigars, the design can be as large as the actual use.