It is very common to apply for trademark registration, but how long does it take to apply for trademark registration now? How to register a trademark? The editor has brought you relevant knowledge about the trademark registration time. This There may be what you need. What are the regulations on the trademark registration process and time?

1. Design? Before applying for trademark registration, you can entrust our company or design by yourself. The following points should be paid attention to when designing a trademark: (1) Originality, that is, the design of the trademark must be innovative; on the one hand, it must meet the requirements of distinctiveness, and on the other hand, a creative trademark can easily expand the popularity of the product and quickly occupy the market. (2) The name of the trademark should avoid being associated with the function of the product. (3) The design of the trademark should highlight the theme and be reasonably laid out.

2. Inquiry? Trademark inquiry usually refers to an inquiry about trademark information conducted by a trademark registration applicant before applying to register a trademark in order to understand whether there are any prior trademark rights that may conflict with the trademark he or she is applying for. . It takes a long time for a trademark to be applied for and approved for registration. If the trademark registration application is rejected, on the one hand, the trademark registration fee will be lost; on the other hand, it will take longer to reapply for a registered trademark, and it is still unknown whether the re-application will be approved for registration. Therefore, it is best for applicants to conduct a trademark search to understand the status of prior rights before applying to register a trademark. There are two types of inquiry services: one is internal inquiry service; the other is agency government inquiry service, which takes 7-14 working days.

3. Application? Submit the trademark registration application documents to the Hong Kong Intellectual Property Department.

4. Acceptance? After the Hong Kong Intellectual Property Department receives the trademark registration application materials, it will give an application number and issue an acceptance notice. It will take about one week.

5. Review? Trademark review is divided into two processes: formal review and substantive review. Formal examination means that before reviewing the application, the Trademark Registry will review the application form and all attachments in detail to see whether the required parts of the form have been completed, whether the relevant information is correct, and whether the required information is incomplete. If everything is in order, the application process will enter the next stage (substantive examination stage). After the substantive examination is completed to check the deficiencies of the application and confirm that all the information is complete, the Trademark Registry will check the trademark records to determine whether other merchants have registered or applied for registration of the same or similar goods or services. 's trademark. The Trademark Registry will also check whether the trademark concerned complies with the registration requirements stipulated in the Trademark Ordinance. If approved, the application process will enter the next stage (the gazette announcement stage).

6. Announcement? After the Trademark Registry approves the application, it will be announced in the Hong Kong Intellectual Property Gazette for a period of three months. If no one raises any objection, the trademark can be successfully registered.

7. Registration? If there is no objection to the trademark announcement or the objection is ruled untenable, the registration is successful. Under normal circumstances, it takes about 6 months to obtain the registration certificate. After successful registration, it will be valid for 10 years and can be renewed on time six months before expiration. What are the suggestions for trademark design?

1. Choose a good English name

In fact, choosing a name composed of English letters is necessary for a company to move towards internationalization and conduct multinational operations. of. This is because of the international development of enterprises, and corporate logos and standard words are easily recognized, accepted, and pronounced by as many people as possible around the world. That is, people from any region, skin color, race, and culture can recognize it.

Since English letters and Arabic numerals are symbols recognized by intellectuals of different nationalities, cultures, and skin colors around the world, corporate logos and standard words using English letters as elements must be universally applicable and universal. Passage. Except for English letters, marks composed of any other elements have strong regional and national characteristics, which increases the difficulty of dissemination and makes it difficult to become famous all over the world.

Japan’s Sony, Panasonic, Honda, Toyota, Germany’s Siemens, and Sweden’s Ericsson all use non-native English letters As company name and brand name.

2. Separate registration for local (native culture and language) and English

United registration is a strict saving, but separate registration brings huge flexibility. Among well-known brands in various countries, it is very rare for Heyi to be registered.

3. Trademark uniqueness is very important

The logo composed of trademark elements is generally a word, which does not exist before you use it.

In trademark examination, this issue is called "distinctiveness", that is, uniqueness. This is what confuses many Chinese people. They all like to choose words that everyone knows, such as "Lenovo", "China", "Great Wall", etc. In fact, these are bad trademark concepts.

The connotation and amount of information contained in the word "corporate trademark" should be all about the company. When the public's sight and hearing come into contact with this logo, all the information reflected in their minds is information about this enterprise, and there will never be any other miscellaneous information that interferes with the company's information dissemination. On the contrary, if this word is existing and originally meaningful, then when the public comes into contact with this word, the information reflected in this word will be confusing, which will affect the accurate and clear communication of corporate information to the outside world.

This kind of brand name difference is not easy to protect, and can also lead to ambiguity. Sometimes a word is praiseworthy in the United States, but may be derogatory in Islamic countries, which is not in line with the universal principles. For example, domestic "junk" carpets have encountered great obstacles in exporting, because "junk" in English means not only sailboat, but also garbage and rags. The same thing happened to Shanghai's White Elephant Battery, because the "awhiteelephant" was "useless". It can be seen that the best international brand name that is feasible everywhere is an English word that has no meaning in itself. IBM and Rejoice are good examples. Under what circumstances can it not become a trademark?

(1) Only the common name, graphics, and model of the product

The common name, graphics, and model of the product are used by a certain industry* They are all recognized and used in the same way, and there are some unique characteristics that distinguish this product from other products. No one should have a monopoly. Using common names and graphics as trademarks may also harm the interests of other practitioners in the same industry and violate the principle of fair competition. Since these marks themselves do not have the function of distinguishing different operators, however, when the common names, graphics, and models of these goods are used by a certain operator as trademarks for their own goods, and through use, consumers are able to distinguish the goods with their marks. If it is distinguished from other goods of the same kind, it should be considered to have acquired distinctiveness and can be registered as a trademark. For example, "PDA" was originally a common name for handheld computers. When a manufacturer of a certain handheld computer uses it as a trademark for its own products, through use, it can be completely distinguished from "Business Communication" and "Celebrity Brand" of similar products. When it is distinguished from "Kuaiyitong", it can be considered to be identifiable and can be registered according to current laws. Of course, ?PDA? was registered at a time when the law at that time clearly prohibited the registration of common names of goods as trademarks. This was not because it had gained recognition through use, but entirely because the examination department of the trademark authority did not understand ?PDA? Caused by an "accident" over the common name of a handheld computer. It must be pointed out that even if such a trademark is registered, the trademark owner has no right to prohibit others from using the common name on similar goods, because it is inherently "public property."

(2) It is prohibited to directly use words and graphics that express the characteristics of the goods as trademarks that only directly indicate the quality, main raw materials, functions, uses, weight, quantity and other characteristics of the goods.

, the reason is the same as the aforementioned prohibition on using the common name and graphics of this product as a trademark. It should be pointed out that what is prohibited by law is only signs that directly represent the quality, main raw materials, functions, uses, weight, quantity and other characteristics of the goods, while signs that indirectly represent or imply certain characteristics of the goods are It is not prohibited because signs that indirectly express or imply certain features of goods may often be trademarks with distinctive features. Even if it is a mark that directly indicates the characteristics of the product, it can also acquire distinctive features through use. For example, the "Mengniu" trademark used for milk and other dairy products, although it directly indicates the raw materials and origin of the product, after a long period of time and large-scale use, Use, has achieved very significant characteristics and recognizability. Similar trademarks would have encountered many difficulties if they wanted to be registered before the Trademark Law was revised in 2001. However, according to the provisions of Article 11 of the revised Trademark Law, it is easier to obtain approval for registration.

(3) Lack of distinctive features

Trademarks should have distinctive features, which is a positive condition for applying for registered trademarks. If a mark lacks distinctive features and is not identifiable, it cannot be obtained. Registration, but after trial, a connection is established between the trademark and the goods, and it obtains distinctive features and is easy to identify, it can be registered.

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