What Does a Registered Agent Do?

Trademark registration is a prerequisite and condition for trademark users to obtain exclusive rights to trademarks. Only approved registered trademarks are protected by law. The principle of trademark registration is the basic criterion for determining the exclusive right of a trademark. The choice of different registration principles is the result of weighing the relationship between the certainty of law and the fairness of law in this issue.

Trademark Registration Agent

Trademark registration is obtained by the trademark user

If a natural person, legal person or other organization needs to obtain the exclusive right to use a trademark for the goods it produces, manufactures, processes, picks, or distributes, it shall apply to the Trademark Office of the State Administration for Industry and Commerce (hereinafter referred to as the Trademark Office) to apply for trademark registration .

Foreigners or foreign enterprises must entrust trademark agencies to handle trademark registration matters in China, except for foreigners or foreign enterprises that have permanent residence or business offices in China.

There are two ways to apply for registration of a product or service mark:

(1) Entrusted by a nationally recognized trademark agency.

(2) The applicant goes directly to the Trademark Registration Hall of the Trademark Office.

Application for registration of goods and services

International trademark registration application

Application for certification trademark registration

Collective trademark registration application

Special sign registration application

Application for registration of change, renewal and transfer of registered trademark

1. If applying for registration under the enterprise name, a copy of the business license must be provided, and the official seal must be stamped on the copy of the business license;

2. If you apply for registration under your personal name, you must provide a copy of your personal ID card and a copy of the business license of the individual industrial and commercial households. The copy of the business license of the individual industrial and commercial households must be stamped with the official seal;

3. Provide trademark text or patterns, and if color protection is required, color patterns must also be provided;

4. To provide the goods / services to be registered, according to the goods or services provided by the applicant, refer to the ninth edition of the International Classification of Goods and Services for the Registration of Trademarks (Nice Classification) and the Trademark Office according to the above international classification table To fill in the "differentiated list of similar goods and services";

5. Provide the "Trademark Agency Power of Attorney" stamped with the official seal or signature. The power of attorney can be obtained from the company; especially note that the address on the "Trademark Agency Power of Attorney" should be exactly the same as the registered address on the business license.

Trademark registration fees are charged by category and number, and each trademark fee per category:

1800 yuan for each general trademark (ten-year validity period, including ten-year fee, domestic company or individual, including state fee 1000, agency fee 800)

Collective and certification marks of 3,000 yuan each (ten-year validity, including ten-year fee, foreign company or individual, including state fee 1,000, agency fee 2000)

The "Trademark Law" and related administrative regulations and departmental regulations all make clear provisions on trademark agency. Article 10 of the Trademark Law stipulates that: "Foreigners or foreign enterprises applying for trademark registration and handling other trademark matters in China shall entrust an agency designated by the state." Article 3 of the Implementing Regulations of the Trademark Law further defines it : "Foreigners or foreign enterprises applying for trademark registration or other trademark matters in China shall entrust a trademark agency organization designated by the State Administration for Industry and Commerce." This article also states: "Application for trademark registration, transfer registration, renewal registration , Change of the registrant's name or address, reissuance of the "Trademark Registration Certificate" and other related matters, the applicant may entrust a trademark agency organization approved by the State Administration for Industry and Commerce, or directly handle it. Whether an enterprise entrusts an agency to handle trademark matters is based on the voluntary principle, while foreigners and foreign enterprises are subject to the mandatory principle. There are two main reasons for making this requirement: first, nationals do not have language barriers, while foreigners are different; second, domestic companies generally have specialized departments and personnel specializing in intellectual property management. Familiar with intellectual property laws in their own country, and foreign companies generally do not know enough about the intellectual property legal system in the applicant country. Therefore, from the perspective of safeguarding the dignity of a sovereign state, protecting the legitimate rights and interests of foreign applicants, ensuring the quality of trademark legal affairs, and improving the efficiency of trademark registration management agencies, most countries have stipulated the principle of mandatory agency for foreign applicants. As required by the US Trademark Law, foreign applicants must appoint a trademark agent in the United States to represent trademark matters. According to the Russian Trademark Law, Russian nationals can entrust patent agents registered with the Russian Patent Office to handle trademark application registration and other related trademark matters. Foreign legal persons or natural persons who do not live in Russia must obtain trademark registration through an agent registered with the Russian Patent Office. People handle.

Trademark exclusive rights cannot naturally arise and must be obtained from the State Trademark Office through legal procedures.

In 2000, the State Trademark Office issued a special article requiring local industrial and commercial bureaus to completely delink from trademark agencies and not to participate in trademark agency affairs. After several years of development, China has formed a mature, professional and completely open trademark agency market.

Even so, many companies are still hesitating before applying for trademark registration: should they apply directly to the State Trademark Office, or should they handle it through an agency? Based on the fact that everyone does not fully understand the benefits of entrusting a trademark agency, the author summarizes the following points for reference by companies or natural persons.

First, the trademark registration application process is efficient and saves time.

Trademark registration application is a highly professional job. Due to the limited manpower of the National Trademark Office, it is impossible to provide detailed consultation services for each applicant on the spot. In this case, the applicant often needs a period of time to understand the trademark registration process and precautions, and the work efficiency is greatly reduced. It is not the same to entrust a trademark agency organization nearby. They not only provide patient, meticulous and comprehensive consulting services, but also quickly and accurately make various application documents; not only save your time, but also save you from the pain of traveling around.

Second, the registration approval rate is high, and the trademark registration protection strategy is reasonable and complete.

Because the applicant does not have professional trademark knowledge, any omissions in any aspect of trademark registration will be completely abandoned. Decreasing the registration approval rate not only wastes time and energy, but also misses the opportunity for trademark registration. Moreover, without the help of a trademark agent, companies often cannot formulate a complete trademark strategy and cannot protect themselves to the fullest extent even after successful registration. Trademark agencies are familiar with trademark regulations and the trademark registration process. They can not only help applicants judge the search results before trademark registration to ensure a high registration approval rate, but also can formulate a complete trademark protection strategy based on the specific situation of the enterprise, and create a corporate golden signboard.

Third, it has a full range of professional consulting and services after applying for registration.

Many people mistakenly believe that making and mailing applications is the job of a trademark agency. In fact, this is just the starting point for the trademark registration process and trademark agency work. The trademark registration process is complex and has a long cycle. During the entire registration application period, the trademark agency will promptly notify the applicant of the progress of trademark registration. If the applicant is challenged after the announcement of the preliminary examination of the trademark, the agency will also help the applicant to collect sufficient evidence and make a strong defense. After successful registration, the agency will promptly and securely send the "Trademark Registration Certificate" to the applicant. Of course, with regard to issues such as the need to renew trademarks or the change of applicant's name and address, timely reminders and assistance from agents will help applicants rest easy.

Fourth, save costs.

Although the agency needs to pay a certain agency fee, it is actually the most economical way. The applicant made a special trip to Beijing to handle it. At least travel, accommodation and boarding expenses are an essential expense. Because the applicant does not have trademark expertise, it is inevitable to spend "unjust money" in all aspects of registration. If a trademark registration application is rejected due to a slight omission, it would be "

1,

Natural persons, legal persons, or other organizations that need to obtain exclusive rights to their trademarks for their goods or services in the production and business operations shall apply to the Trademark Office for trademark registration. The narrow application for trademark registration refers only to the application for registration of goods and services trademarks, the application for international trademark registration, the application for certification trademark registration, the application for collective trademark registration, and the application for registration of special signs. In addition to the trademark registration application in a narrow sense, a broad-based trademark registration application also includes changes, renewals, transfer registration applications, opposition applications, cancellation applications, trademark licensing filings, and other trademark registration matters.

There are two ways for domestic trademark registration applicants to apply for trademark registration: one is to handle the application on their own, that is, the applicant to directly apply for trademark registration; the other is to entrust a trademark agency established in accordance with the law to handle the application. In terms of the way of contact, if the application is made directly to the Trademark Office, the applicant will contact the Trademark Office directly during the process; if the trademark agency is entrusted to handle the application, the applicant will contact the Trademark Office through the trademark agency during the process No direct contact with the Trademark Office. Regarding the submitted documents, if you go directly to the Trademark Office, the applicant should submit a copy of the identity card of the handler in addition to other documents that should be submitted; if you entrust a trademark agency to handle, the applicant should submit In addition to other documents, a power of attorney for entrusting a trademark agency to handle trademark registration matters should also be submitted. With regard to the way of file submission, if the applicant handles it on its own, the applicant or the agent directly submits the application documents to the acceptance window of the Trademark Registration Hall; if it entrusts a trademark agency to handle the application, the agency may submit the application documents directly, post it or Submit the trademark office through the courier company, or submit the trademark registration application through the online application system.

Foreigners or foreign enterprises applying for trademark registration and handling other trademark matters in China shall entrust a trademark agency established in accordance with the law. However, foreigners or foreign companies with permanent residence or business offices in China can do so by themselves.

If a trademark agency is entrusted to handle trademark registration matters, the required documents and procedures can be consulted with the trademark agency.

1. After investigation, the identities of the trademark agency and the legal representative are true and consistent with the records of the Trademark Office of the State Administration for Industry and Commerce;

2. After investigation, the trademark agency's credit status in recent years is good, there is no major dishonesty, and administrative penalty records;

3. The trademark agency organization made a written commitment to the applicant and its stakeholders to abide by the rights and obligations of the trademark agency and laws and regulations;

4. After investigation, the business place of the trademark agency organization is consistent with the legal person registration, and the business scope and duration are legal and effective;

5.Inside the trademark agency

As China s economy continues to grow steadily and rapidly and after joining the WTO, the domestic market is opened to foreign countries, and the brand awareness of Chinese enterprises, economic entities and consumers has gradually increased, and the number of trademark registration applications has grown rapidly. These have greatly increased the demand for intellectual property agents. It can be said that intellectual property agency is a new type of service industry that has developed rapidly with the rise of the knowledge economy, the trend of world economic integration and the emergence of a large number of intellectual achievements.

However, after the State Council issued a document to cancel the approval and qualification approval of trademark agents, the threshold of the trademark agency industry also disappeared, the number of employees in the trademark agency industry surged, and the whole industry gradually appeared chaos and vicious competition. In this regard, the relevant person in charge of Hantang Consulting Services said that this is a situation that China's trademark industry needs to face during the development process. After the trademark agency is launched to the market, competition is normal and a good thing because it promotes China Economic and Trademark Agency Developments. The competition among agency organizations in terms of professional knowledge, services, and prices has promoted the trademark awareness of Chinese enterprises and citizens from the side, expanded the market capacity of the agency industry, and thus gained more development space.

However, as part of the legal services for intellectual property rights, in addition to requiring its practitioners to master trademark law and related legal knowledge, it also needs to have strong professionalism and speciality. Therefore, trademark agents cannot have no threshold. The competition must also be an orderly and benign competition. Malicious competition can only cause the development of the industry to become more deformed. In the end, it is the interests of the entire industry and the healthy development of the national intellectual property cause.