Someone asked: Why did you register the trademark before, and now it is used well? Why can others withdraw?

In that case, I should have received a circular from the Trademark Office. The first sentence in it is that someone rejected you for not using it for three consecutive years according to Article 49 of the Trademark Law. This sentence means that others have laws to follow. Simply put, there are so many combinations, whether Chinese characters or English letters. Trademark examination is the same or similar principle and cannot be registered.

In short, trademarks are scarce resources, and the validity period of trademarks is ten years. If tens of thousands of trademarks are hoarded, people who really need to use trademarks will have no way to register. In order to make effective use of scarce resources, Article 49 of the Trademark Law came into being. The Trademark Law stipulates: "If a registered trademark is not used for three consecutive years without justifiable reasons, any unit or individual may apply to the Trademark Office for cancellation of the registered trademark." This is what we usually call "trademark withdrawal three".

After "Revocation 3" is successful, the trademark owner will lose the exclusive right to use the trademark. Of course, if you want to complain, you can submit valid evidence of the trademark "use" to the Trademark Office within the specified time, or explain the "legitimate reasons" for the trademark not to be used, such as force majeure, government policy restrictions, bankruptcy liquidation, etc.

Reason 2: Malicious cybersquatting.

The so-called "malicious cybersquatting" is just a popular name. According to the provisions of Article 31 of the current Trademark Law, that is, "a trademark that has been used by others and has certain influence shall not be registered in advance by improper means". Therefore, "malicious cybersquatting" means that the applicant uses unreasonable or illegal means to apply for registration of a trademark that has been used by others but has not been registered in his own name.

The prior obligee or interested party may object to the new application for registered trademark in violation of these provisions. For a successfully registered trademark, within five years from the date of registration, the prior obligee or interested party may request the Trademark Review and Adjudication Board to declare the registered trademark invalid. In case of malicious cybersquatting, the owner of a well-known trademark is not limited by five years, and may request the Trademark Review and Adjudication Board to declare the registered trademark invalid at any time.

Reason 3: Trademarks become common names.

The Trademark Law stipulates: "If a registered trademark becomes the common name of the goods it has approved for use, any unit or individual may apply to the Trademark Office for cancellation of the registered trademark."

The important function of a trademark is to distinguish the source of goods or services, so the Trademark Law stipulates that the application for registration of a trademark must be significant. If a registered trademark is frequently used to describe a specific commodity, resulting in its becoming a generic name, then the distinctiveness of the registered trademark will be greatly weakened, so it will face the risk of being revoked.

Reason four: the use is not standardized, and the font style is changed at will.

Article 49 of the Trademark Law stipulates: "Where a trademark registrant arbitrarily changes the registered trademark, the name and address of the registrant or other registered items in the process of using the registered trademark, the local administrative department for industry and commerce shall order it to make corrections within a time limit; If it fails to make corrections within the time limit, the Trademark Office shall revoke its registered trademark. "

It is a common sense mistake to change the font and design of a trademark at will, especially for SMEs. Many enterprises subjectively think that the trademark is mine, and they can use it as they want. From the perspective of trademark law, this idea is wrong. Non-standard use of trademarks will lead to administrative punishment by administrative law enforcement departments, resulting in the loss of trademark exclusive rights; What's more, once the above acts constitute infringement, they should not only bear administrative responsibility, but also bear civil responsibility.

Reason 5: The trademark has not been renewed upon expiration.

The Trademark Law stipulates: "If a registered trademark needs to be used continuously after its expiration, the trademark registrant shall go through the renewal procedures in accordance with the regulations within 12 months before its expiration; If it is not handled during this period, a grace period of 6 months can be given. If the renewal procedures are not completed at the expiration of the period, the registered trademark shall be cancelled. "

Trademarks also have a shelf life After successful registration, the effective shelf life is 10 year. After the expiration, the trademark will be revoked! This involves the ten-year renewal of trademarks. According to the Trademark Law, the validity period of a registered trademark is 10 year. If it needs to be used again after the expiration of the validity period, it shall apply for renewal of registration within 12 months before the expiration. Failing to apply within this time limit, a grace period of 6 months may be granted. If no application is made at the expiration of the exhibition, the trademark will be cancelled.