It has recently been revealed that more than 600 self-media public accounts such as "Yiyi", "Vicious Movie", "Visual Chronicle" and "Yu Xiaoge" are being applied for trademark registration by the same company, and most of them are word trademarks. . In the trademark registration process, a crucial step is to determine the similarity of trademarks. Today I will share with you the criteria for determining the similarity of word trademarks. ?

Criteria for determining similarity of word trademarks

(1) Chinese trademarks have the same composition of Chinese characters, but only have different fonts or designs, phonetic notation, and arrangement order, which will easily cause the relevant public to have a negative opinion of the goods or services. If the source is misunderstood, it will be determined to be a similar trademark.

(2) If a trademark consists of the same foreign characters, letters or numbers, but is only different in font or design, which is likely to cause the relevant public to misunderstand the source of the goods or services, it will be determined to be a similar trademark.

(3) There is no distinction between upper and lower case. Identical word trademarks means that the trademarks use the same language, and the text composition and arrangement order are exactly the same. If there are slight differences between the two trademarks due to the font, capitalization of letters, or the arrangement of the words in horizontal or vertical format, they will still be determined to be the same trademark. Generally speaking, if you are registering a word trademark, you do not need to register it together, and it is impossible to register it together. Except for one of the following circumstances:

1) The trademark consists of one or two foreign letters in non-ordinary fonts, has no meaning and has obviously different fonts, making the overall distinction of the trademark obvious and making it difficult for the relevant public to recognize it. The source of goods or services is misidentified.

2) The trademark consists of three or more foreign letters, in different order, with obviously different pronunciation or glyphs, no meaning or different meanings, making the overall distinction of the trademark obvious and making it difficult for the relevant public to distinguish the goods or services. misidentification of the source.

3) If a trademark consists of two foreign words, only the order of the words is different, and there is no obvious difference in meaning, which is likely to cause the relevant public to misunderstand the source of the goods or services, it will be determined to be a similar trademark.

(4) If a trademark consists of two foreign words, only the order of the words is different, and there is no obvious difference in meaning, which is likely to cause the relevant public to misunderstand the source of the goods or services, it will be determined to be a similar trademark.

(5) A Chinese trademark consists of three or more Chinese characters, only some of which are different, and the whole has no meaning or no obvious difference in meaning, which may easily cause the relevant public to misunderstand the source of the goods or services. , determined to be similar trademarks. However, this is excepted if the pronunciation or font shape of the first character is obviously different, or the overall meaning is different, which makes the overall distinction of the trademark obvious and will not easily cause the relevant public to misunderstand the source of the goods or services.

(6) The foreign language trademark consists of four or more letters, and only individual letters are different, and the whole has no meaning or no obvious difference in meaning, which may easily cause the relevant public to misunderstand the source of the goods or services. , determined to be similar trademarks. However, this is except for cases where the pronunciation and font shape of the initial letters are obviously different, or the overall meaning is different, making the overall distinction of the trademark obvious and making it difficult for the relevant public to misunderstand the source of the goods or services.

(7) If the characters and glyphs of a trademark are similar and may easily cause the relevant public to misunderstand the source of the goods or services, they shall be determined to be similar trademarks.

(8) If the pronunciation of the trademark characters is the same or similar, and the font shape or overall appearance is similar, which is likely to cause the relevant public to misunderstand the source of the goods or services, it will be determined to be a similar trademark. However, this is excepted if the meaning, font shape or overall appearance is obviously different and will not easily cause the relevant public to misunderstand the source of the goods or services.

(9) If the words of a trademark have the same or similar meaning and are likely to cause the relevant public to misunderstand the source of the goods or services, they will be determined to be similar trademarks.

(10) If the trademark text is composed of overlapping words, which is likely to cause the relevant public to misunderstand the source of the goods or services, it will be determined to be a similar trademark.

(11) Foreign language trademarks only undergo changes in form such as singular and plural, gerund, abbreviation, addition of article, comparative or superlative, part of speech, etc., but the meaning of the expression is basically the same, and it is easy to make them related If the public misunderstands the source of a product or service, it will be determined to be a similar trademark.

(12) If a trademark is the addition of the common name and model of the product to someone else's prior trademark, which may easily cause the relevant public to misunderstand the source of the product or service, it will be determined to be a similar trademark.

(13) If a trademark is added to someone else’s prior trademark with certain words indicating the place where the goods are produced, sold or used, which may easily cause the relevant public to misunderstand the source of the goods or services, the judgment shall be determined. are similar trademarks.

(14) A trademark is the addition of words that directly indicate the quality, main raw materials, functions, uses, weight, quantity and other characteristics of the goods to someone else’s prior trademark, which can easily cause the relevant public to have a negative impression of the goods or products. If the source of the service is misunderstood, it will be determined to be a similar trademark.

(15) A trademark is a modified adjective or adverb added to someone else’s prior trademark, as well as other words with weak distinctiveness in the trademark. The meaning expressed is basically the same, and it is easy to make related If the public misunderstands the source of a product or service, it will be determined to be a similar trademark. However, this is excepted if the meaning or overall difference is obvious and it is difficult for the relevant public to misunderstand the source of the goods or services.

(16) If two trademarks or one of them consists of two or more relatively independent parts, the significant parts of which are similar, which is likely to cause the relevant public to misunderstand the source of the goods or services, determined to be similar trademarks. However, exceptions are made where the overall meaning is clearly different and it is difficult for the relevant public to misunderstand the source of the goods or services.

(17) If the trademark completely includes another person’s previously well-known or distinctive word trademark, which is likely to cause the relevant public to believe that it belongs to a series of trademarks and misidentify the source of the goods or services, determined to be similar trademarks.