my country adopts the registration principle for the acquisition of trademark rights, that is, only trademarks approved and registered by the Trademark Office of the State Administration for Industry and Commerce can generate exclusive rights. In order for a trademark to be registered, the party concerned must first submit a trademark registration application, which will then be reviewed by the Trademark Office. After the Trademark Office confirms that the trademark applied for registration meets the registration conditions stipulated in the law and approves the registration, the registrant will have exclusive rights to the trademark. . Therefore, if parties want to obtain trademark rights, they must pay attention to two issues: first, correctly submit the application for trademark registration, and second, ensure that the trademark applied for registration meets the requirements of the law.

(1) Submit an application for trademark registration as required

Citizens, legal persons or other organizations shall submit the application to the Trademark Office of the State Administration for Industry and Commerce in accordance with the provisions of my country’s Trademark Law and its implementation regulations. "Application for Trademark Registration" and relevant documents, and payment of fees. This procedure is called "Application for Trademark Registration".

Applying for trademark registration is a prerequisite for obtaining the exclusive right to use a trademark, and it is also a necessary procedure for obtaining the exclusive right to use a trademark. Therefore, the parties concerned must make the application comply with the provisions of the Trademark Law and the Implementation Regulations of the Trademark Law, otherwise the Trademark Office will not accept it. Generally speaking, an application for trademark registration should meet the following conditions.

1. Applicants for trademark registration are qualified to apply for trademark registration

my country currently has few restrictions on the qualifications of trademark entities. According to Articles 4 and 17 of the Trademark Law According to the regulations, trademark registration applicants can be natural persons, legal persons or other organizations. Foreigners and foreign enterprises can also become trademark registration applicants in accordance with Chinese laws or relevant international agreements and treaties.

2. Submit a trademark registration application according to the prescribed channels

Domestic trademark registration applicants can apply for trademark registration through the following two channels: First, the trademark registration applicant can entrust the trademark The agency handles the trademark registration application; secondly, the trademark applicant can also go directly to the Trademark Office to apply for trademark registration with his or her ID card, a letter of introduction from the organization and a copy of the business license or a copy of the business license signed by the issuing authority.

Foreigners or foreign enterprises must entrust a nationally recognized trademark agency organization to handle trademark registration applications and other related matters.

3. The trademark registration application is complete

If you apply for trademark registration, you should submit the "Trademark Registration Application" and other documents to the Trademark Office. The specific requirements are:

(1) The applicant must submit one "Application for Trademark Registration" in accordance with the principle of one application for one trademark for one category of goods. That is to say, the goods or services reported in an application can only be limited to one category in the "International Classification of Goods and Services for Trademark Registration". If you entrust a trademark agency to handle the matter on your behalf, you should also submit a "Trademark Agency Power of Attorney".

(2) The "Application for Trademark Registration" should be filled out neatly, and the applicant's name and address should be accurate.

(3) Each application should be accompanied by 10 trademark drawings (in designated colors) of color trademarks, 10 colored drawings and 1 black and white ink draft).

(4) Present a copy of the enterprise's business license or provide a copy of the business license signed and sealed by the issuing authority. If you apply for a registered trademark in the name of a natural person, you should provide the corresponding identity document.

(5) Application documents should be in Chinese, and foreign language documents should be accompanied by Chinese translations.

(6) When applying for registration of a trademark using a portrait, the applicant must provide a letter of authorization from the portrait owner and it must be notarized by a notary public.

(7) If a foreign applicant claims priority, he must fill in the initial filing country, initial filing date and application number on the application form, and must submit priority certification documents to the Trademark Office within 3 months. If the supporting documents are not submitted within the time limit, it will be deemed that priority has not been claimed.

(8) When applying for registration of collective trademarks or certification trademarks, the corresponding articles of association and subject qualification certificate are also required.

4. Pay trademark registration fees as required

Application for trademark registration requires payment of fees. The current charging standard is RMB 1,000 for each "Trademark Registration Application" that specifies less than 10 types of goods. After more than 10 types, an additional RMB 100 will be charged for each excess. If the fee is not paid, the Trademark Office will not accept the application.

If the trademark registration application is reviewed by the Trademark Office and deemed to meet the above requirements, that is, if the application procedures are complete and the application documents are filled in as required, the application number will be compiled and an "Acceptance Notice" will be issued.

The applicant’s application date shall be based on the date when the Trademark Office receives the application documents. Since my country implements the first-to-file principle, the application date for trademark registration is particularly important to applicants.

(2) Select a trademark that can be registered

Currently, the Trademark Office receives more than 200,000 trademark registration applications every year, but not all of them are approved for registration. About 10% of them are The trademark was rejected because it did not meet the requirements for registration. Therefore, if the applicant hopes to improve the success rate of registration, he should understand the legal requirements for registered trademarks as much as possible and conduct necessary searches before applying.

1. The trademark applied for registration shall be distinctive, and prohibited words and graphics shall not be used

Article 9 of the "Trademark Law" stipulates: "The trademark applied for registration shall be distinctive. characteristics for easy identification.” The requirement that a trademark must have distinctive features is determined by the identification function of the trademark. When a trademark is used in the market, it should be obvious to consumers that it is a trademark rather than decoration or description. Therefore, having distinctive features and being easy to identify are necessary conditions that a trademark should have.

In addition to being distinctive, in accordance with Articles 10 and 11 of the Trademark Law, the following words and graphics may not be used in trademarks:

(1) Same as the People’s Republic of China* **If the name, national flag, national emblem, military flag, or medal is the same as or similar to that of the country, it shall not be used as a trademark.

(2) If it is the same as or similar to the name, national flag, national emblem or military flag of a foreign country, it shall not be used as a trademark. Except with the consent of the government of that country.

(3) Identical or similar to the name, flag, or emblem of an intergovernmental international organization. Except with the consent of the organization or if it is not likely to mislead the public.

(4) Identical or similar to the official mark or inspection mark indicating implementation of control and guarantee. Except with authorization.

(5) Identical or similar to the symbols and names of “Red Cross” and “Red Crescent”.

(6) The common name and graphics of this product.

The common name of this product refers to the name of a certain type of product that is commonly used within a certain range. Common names and graphics of goods are prohibited from being trademarks of this product, on the one hand because they cannot distinguish different operators and are not distinctive; on the other hand, they are to prevent generic names and graphics from being unfairly monopolized by exclusives.

However, if such a name or figure is combined with a distinctive mark and applied for registration, it can be approved.

(7) Directly express the quality, main raw materials, functions, uses, weight, quantity and other characteristics of the goods.

Words or graphics that directly represent the quality, main raw materials, functions, uses, weight, quantity and other characteristics of goods or services are descriptive words or graphics commonly used by operators on their goods or services. Graphics belong to the category of personal use and exclusive monopoly should be prohibited. If the words or graphics of a trademark indirectly describe or merely imply the quality and other characteristics of the goods or services used, or if other parts of the trademark are distinctive, registration can be approved.

(8) Ethnically discriminatory.

(9) Exaggerated and deceptive propaganda.

If the text, graphics or combination of trademarks exaggerates the quality, main raw materials, functions, uses, weight, quantity and other characteristics of the goods or services used, and is deceptive, it shall not be used as a trademark. . However, exaggeration without deception shall not be subject to this restriction.

(10) Harmful to socialist morals or have other adverse effects.

Anything that violates social public interests, public order, and socialist moral concepts is prohibited by this clause.

(11) Place names of administrative divisions at or above the county level or foreign place names known to the public shall not be used as trademarks, except where the place names have other meanings or are part of collective trademarks or certification marks.

Trademarks with geographical names are easily considered to indicate that goods and services originate from a certain place. They lack the function of distinguishing different operators and are not suitable for monopoly by one company. Therefore, it is an international practice to prohibit place names from being used as trademarks.

In addition to the above, the Trademark Law also requires that the trademark applied for registration shall not infringe the prior rights of others, such as copyright, design patent rights, etc., and shall not plagiarize or imitate other people's well-known trademarks.

2. A search for prior rights should be conducted before submitting a trademark registration application

In addition to the requirements for distinctiveness and prohibited clauses, Article 17 of the Trademark Law also requires , the trademark applied for registration shall not be identical or similar to the trademark that has been registered or preliminarily approved by others on the same or similar goods, otherwise the application will be rejected by the Trademark Office. This is what we mean by saying that the trademark applied for registration must not conflict with the prior trademark rights. Whether there is a conflict depends on whether the goods for which the trademark applied for registration and the trademark with prior rights are designated are of the same or similar type, and whether the two trademarks are identical or similar based on the overall structure, pronunciation and meaning of the trademark.

Identical trademarks refer to trademarks whose words, graphics, or combinations thereof are visually indistinguishable or slightly different.

Similar trademarks refer to trademarks whose words, graphics, or combinations thereof have certain differences in pronunciation, meaning, or overall structure, but are difficult to distinguish and may easily cause confusion among consumers.

Whether they are the same product is judged based on the degree of similarity in functions, uses, performance, raw materials, etc. of the product. Generally speaking, if the name is the same or if the name is different but the product refers to the same product, it is naturally the same product. If the raw materials and appearance of the goods are different, but the two are essentially the same based on the sales purpose and other circumstances, they are also regarded as the same kind of goods.

Two or more goods have certain similarities in their functions, uses, raw materials used, sales places, etc. If the same or similar trademarks are used, it may easily lead to misunderstanding and mistaken purchase by consumers. , causing consumers to mistakenly think that the goods are produced by the same company and are similar goods. It should be noted that the similarity of products is constantly changing. With the continuous updating of products, the continuous changes in product uses and sales channels, products that were not originally classified as similar may now be classified as similar.

In order to avoid having a trademark registration application rejected due to conflicts with prior trademark rights, it is best for applicants to conduct a search for prior trademark rights before submitting an application. At present, all trademark agency organizations represent this business, and applicants can also go directly to the Trademark Office to conduct searches. If no prior rights are found after searching, the applicant can submit a trademark registration application with confidence.