1. How to protect your trademarks and service marks in China?
In China you must register your trademark with the Chinese Trademark Office in order to protect your exclusive rights to that trademark in China.
The Chinese trademark law system is different from the U.S. federal trademark law system. The Chinese Trademark Law provides: "Any natural person, legal entity or other organization intending to acquire the exclusive right to use a trademark, including service mark, shall file an application for the registration of the trademark with the Trademark Office".
2.What types of signs can be registered trademarks?
Any visual sign, if it can be used to distinguish the goods or service of one natural person, legal entity or any other organization from that of others, including any word, design, letters of an alphabet, numerals, three-dimensional symbol, combinations of colors, and their combination, may be filed for registration.
One important change is that before 2002, three-dimensional symbols or combinations of colors could not be registered trademarks in China, and now this category is readily available. Needless to say that, some special words or symbols, like countries names, international organizations names and symbols, such as the Red Cross, may not be registered as trademarks.
3. Application First Principle
This principle says that where two or more applicants apply for the registration of identical or similar trademarks for the same or similar goods, the Trademark Office will approve the trademark application which is first filed. Where applications are filed on the same day, the preliminary approval shall be given to the trademark which was the earliest used, and the applications of the others shall be rejected and their trademarks shall not be published.
Apparently, where the registration of a trademark which has been applied for is identical with or similar to the trademark of another person that has, in respect of the same or similar goods, been registered or, after examination, preliminarily approved, the Trademark Office shall refuse the application and shall not publish the said trademark.
4. The term for a registered trademark and trademark renewal
The period of validity of a registered trademark shall be ten years, counted from the date of approval of the registration.
If the registrant intends to continue to use of the registered trademark beyond the expiration of the period of validity, an application for renewal of the registration shall be made within six months before the said expiration. Where no application therefore has been filed within the said period, a grace period of six months may be allowed. If no application has been filed at the expiration the grace period, the registered trademark shall be cancelled.
The period of validity of each renewal of registration shall be ten years.
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2019/3/29 10:31:47
1. How to protect your trademarks and service marks in China?
