Fancy a trademark but can’t find the trademark holder? When you apply to register a trademark, you find that the trademark has been registered before and it is also shown as "unowned"? When encountering such a situation, many people will ask in the trademark group, whose trademark is this? However, there is a kind of trademark whose owner cannot be found. It is called "unowned trademark" in the industry!

What is an unowned trademark?

Unowned trademarks refer to registered trademarks that still exist in the trademark registration book of the competent authority due to the bankruptcy, dissolution, closure of the enterprise or the death of the trademark owner. Simply put, an unowned trademark is a trademark that does not have a trademark holder but is still legal.

Unowned trademarks have the following three characteristics:

(1) Unowned trademarks are still registered trademarks

Although unowned trademarks no longer have an “owner”, However, if the trademark is still valid for 10 years, the trademark is still a registered trademark and is protected by the Trademark Law.

(2) An unowned trademark has no trademark holder

Once a company goes bankrupt, closes down, or the trademark holder dies, the trademark will become an unowned trademark. This is the most fundamental feature of an unowned trademark.

(3) The ownership of the trademark has not yet been determined

Since there is no trademark holder for an unowned trademark, the ownership of this type of trademark has not yet been determined, and no one can Class trademark claims rights.

Note: Unowned trademarks are not idle trademarks. The biggest similarity between unowned trademarks and idle trademarks is that both parties are still within the 10-year validity period. The difference is that idle trademarks still have owners, but the owner does not use the trademark, while unowned trademarks mean that the trademark holder no longer exists. .

What are the causes of unowned trademarks? The causes of unowned trademarks are:

(1) The registrant has low trademark awareness

The emergence of unowned trademarks is mostly due to the fact that companies do not pay enough attention to the asset attributes of trademarks. Before a company goes bankrupt, it disposes of tangible assets but forgets to dispose of intangible assets, leading to the creation of unowned trademarks.

(2) The company went bankrupt before the trademark registration was successful

It usually takes about a year to register a trademark, and if an objection is filed, the time will be delayed even longer. Due to extremely fierce market competition, some companies have been eliminated before obtaining a trademark, leaving trademarks that were successfully registered later as unowned trademarks.

How to deal with unowned trademarks?

Article 32 of the "Regulations for the Implementation of the Trademark Law of the People's Republic of China" stipulates: "If the exclusive right to a registered trademark is transferred due to inheritance other than transfer or other reasons, the exclusive right to use the registered trademark shall be accepted. The party with the right shall go to the Trademark Office to handle the transfer procedures for the exclusive right to register a trademark with relevant certification documents or legal documents.”

Trademarks can be inherited by heirs as inheritance, but the heirs must hold relevant certification documents or documents. Legal documents, go to the Trademark Office to complete the procedures, so as to avoid the trademark becoming an unowned trademark.

If the company does not transfer the trademark when it is cancelled, and does not decide its ownership, all the shareholders of the original company will handle the property left out when the company was canceled and liquidated. If you want to transfer a trademark, you can apply for trademark transfer by the liquidation organization or department that accepts the property of the enterprise, and go to the Trademark Office with relevant certification documents or legal documents to handle the transfer procedures for the exclusive right to register a trademark. Trademark registration applicationTrademark registration process