What does a trademark refusal mean and what are the reasons for a trademark refusal

Trademark rejection means that the trademark registered in the Trademark Office has a similar trademark, and the cause of this phenomenon is actually that the trademark is not checked before registration.

That is, your trademark application has not been approved, usually someone else has already used it, or there is a very similar one.

The Trademark Office has partially rejected the trademark registration application you submitted, and if you do not apply for a partial refusal, you want to initiate a trademark refusal review application. The Trademark Office will automatically split your application for trademark registration 15 30 days after the issuance of the notice of partial refusal. The part that passes the examination will be divided into a new trademark registration application and the original trademark registration application date will be retained, and the divided trademark registration application will generate a new trademark application number and the preliminary examination announcement will be made, and the part that fails the examination will be rejected.

If you initiate a trademark refusal review for a partially rejected trademark registration application, but you want the preliminary examination announcement for a project that has passed the trademark registration examination as soon as possible. You can also file an application for trademark division, so that the part that has passed the examination can be entered into the preliminary examination announcement as soon as possible.

After a trademark is partially refused, there are three types of trademark divisions according to the different attitudes of the applicants:

There is no review, and it is automatically divided.

If the applicant does not conduct a reexamination, the Trademark Office will automatically divide the part of the trademark that has entered the preliminary examination and the part that has not been approved for registration. The part of the trademark that has passed the examination will directly enter the preliminary examination and announcement period, and continue to go through the subsequent trademark registration process.

Do a review and apply for a division of labor.

If the applicant is not satisfied with the rejection part of the Trademark Office, and needs to conduct a rejection review and is eager to use the trademark that has passed the examination, the applicant can apply for a rejection review and manual division at the same time. The part of the trademark that has passed the examination is divided into another new trademark and a new application number is generated, but the filing date of the original application is retained. The new trademark will continue to go through the subsequent trademark registration process.

Do a review and do not apply for division.

If the applicant has to do a rejection review and does not prepare to apply for division, the part of the trademark that has passed the examination will not enter the preliminary examination and announcement period, and the subsequent trademark registration process can only be entered after the review result of the entire trademark is available. Trademark registration is more troublesome, and you can let Alibaba Cloud and other agency companies assist.

How to do a trademark split.

Article 22 of Chapter 3 of the Regulations for the Implementation of the Trademark Law of the People's Republic of China (2014 Revision) stipulates that: "If it is necessary to be divided, the applicant shall submit an application for division to the Trademark Office within 15 days from the date of receipt of the Notice of Partial Rejection of the Application for Trademark Registration from the Trademark Office." After receiving the application for division, the Trademark Office shall divide the original application into two parts, generate a new application number for the preliminary examination application that has been divided, and publish it. ”

If your trademark registration application is rejected or partially rejected by the Trademark Office, and you are not satisfied with the decision of the Trademark Office to refuse or partially refuse. You can file an application for trademark refusal review with the Trademark Office. The Trademark Office will review the registered trademark based on the Trademark Law, the Regulations for the Implementation of the Trademark Law, and the trademark examination standards, combined with the reasons for retrial you submit.

If your trademark refusal review application is still rejected by the Trademark Office, you can file a legal action with the resident IP court. Trademark reexamination is not related to the application for trademark registration and is subject to a separate fee. If you do not file a trademark reexamination application if the trademark registration application is partially rejected or partial, the Trademark Office will automatically divide the trademark registration application after 15 to 30 days.

Reasons for rejection of trademark registration:

1) Rejection of similar trademarks due to unfavorable trademark search: Since the trademark applicant has no way to search all the contents of similar trademarks in detail, it is inevitable that there will be omissions, and similar trademarks that cannot be excluded will be rejected by the Trademark Office at the time of application.

2) Rejection of similar trademarks due to blind search period: Since it is impossible for the Trademark Office to enter all the registered trademarks applied for on that day into the system, the data that can be found are generally 3 months ago, so there is a certain blind search period. In this case, the trademark applied for later will be rejected.

3) Violation of mandatory provisions: The most basic reason for the rejection of a registered trademark is that it violates the prohibition and prohibition clauses of the Trademark Law.

Trademark rejection means that the trademark applied for registration is not registered after the Trademark Office has violated the Trademark Law, and the applicant is not satisfied with the reasons and legal basis of the rejection of the Trademark Office of the State Administration for Industry and Commerce, and may apply to the Trademark Review and Adjudication Board for a review and review of the original case.

1. What are the types of trademark refusals?

Refusal is a common examination result in the process of trademark registration application, and there are usually several types of refusals, such as refusal in violation of prohibitive provisions, refusal of trademark that is not distinctive, and refusal that conflicts with prior trademark rights (referring to earlier application or prior registration).

1. The Trademark Office rejects the application for trademark registration;

2. The Trademark Office rejects the application for transfer of a registered trademark;

3. The Trademark Office rejects the application for renewal of the registered trademark;

4. Trademark Office opposition ruling;

5. The Trademark Office revokes the registered trademark;

6. The Trademark Office revokes the improperly registered trademark;

3. How to apply for trademark rejection review?

The application for trademark refusal review shall be conducted in accordance with Article 32 of the Trademark Law and the Trademark Review and Adjudication Rules.

1. Applicant qualifications: must be the original applicant who has been rejected by the Trademark Office for trademark registration.

2. Time limit for application: The applicant for trademark registration shall apply for reexamination within 15 days from the date of receipt of the Trademark Office Trademark Rejection Notice of the trademark registration application. If the extension is delayed due to force majeure or other legitimate reasons, it may apply for an extension of 30 days before the expiration of the period, and the Trademark Review and Adjudication Board shall decide whether to grant the extension.

3. Documents for application for review:

1) The applicant shall submit to the Trademark Review and Adjudication Board the Application for Review of the Application for Rejection of the Application for Registration of the Hengna Trademark (the applicant shall fill in the application form carefully, especially the reasons for the retrial that are sufficient to resist the discussion);

2) At the same time, the original "Application for Trademark Registration" stamped with the "rejection" seal of the Trademark Office will be attached;

3) The original Notice of Trademark Refusal;

4) Trademark drawings (10 original drawings);

5) The envelope in which the Trademark Office sends the notice of rejection of the trademark (to determine whether the reexamination is filed within the specified time limit);

6) Other relevant supporting materials and physical evidence;

7) If the applicant needs to supplement the relevant evidence materials after submitting the application for review, it shall declare in the application and submit the same number of evidentiary materials as the application within 3 months from the date of submission of the application; If they fail to make a statement in the application or fail to submit it at the end of the time limit, it shall be deemed to have waived the supplementation of relevant evidentiary materials;

8) Other requirements: The trademarks, goods and services and other contents filled in the original "Application for Trademark Registration" cannot be changed in any way.

The reasons for trademark rejection are as follows: 1. If the trademark applied for registration does not comply with the relevant provisions of the Trademark Law or is identical or similar to the trademark that has been registered or preliminarily approved by others on the same or similar goods, the Trademark Office shall reject the application and will not publish it. 2. If two or more applicants for trademark registration apply for registration with the same or similar trademark on the same kind of goods or similar goods, the trademark applied for earlier shall be preliminarily examined and announced; If the application is made on the same day, the trademark that has been used earlier shall be preliminarily examined and announced, and the application of others shall be rejected and no announcement shall be made.

Legal basis Article 30 of the Trademark Law of the People's Republic of China provides that if the trademark applied for registration does not comply with the relevant provisions of this Law or is identical or similar to the trademark that has been registered or preliminarily approved by another person on the same or similar goods, the Trademark Office shall reject the application and shall not publish it. Article 31 Where two or more applicants for trademark registration apply for registration with identical or similar trademarks on the same kind of goods or similar goods, the trademark for which the application was made shall be preliminarily examined and announcedIf the application is made on the same day, the trademark that has been used earlier shall be preliminarily examined and announced, and the application of others shall be rejected and no announcement shall be made.

Partial refusal of a trademark refers to the rejection of an application for trademark registration on a part of a designated goods or services when the grounds for refusal relate only to a part of the designated goods or services.

Background: Rejection review refers to the procedure in which the State Trademark Office rejects the applicant's application for registration on the grounds that the trademark applied for registration violates the relevant provisions of the Trademark Law, and the applicant is dissatisfied with the rejection decision of the State Trademark Office, and applies to the Trademark Review and Adjudication Board for review within the statutory time limit, stating the reasons for dissatisfaction with the rejection decision of the State Trademark Office in the review, and requesting the Trademark Review and Adjudication Board to approve the application for the preliminary examination of the trademark.

Handling of trademark rejection review: If the trademark rejection review is reviewed, a lawsuit can be filed with the people's court. The Trademark Office will make a decision on the application for reexamination of the applicant for trademark registration within a few months from the date of receipt of the application and notify the applicant in writing.

Where the parties are not satisfied with the retrial decision, they are to file a lawsuit with the people's court on the retrial decision.

[Legal basis].

Article 34 of the Trademark Law of the People's Republic of China shall notify the applicant for trademark registration in writing of a trademark that has been rejected or not published. If the applicant for trademark registration is not satisfied, he may apply to the Trademark Review and Adjudication Board for review within 15 days from the date of receipt of the notice. The Trademark Review and Adjudication Board shall make a decision within nine months from the date of receipt of the application and notify the applicant in writing.

If there are special circumstances that need to be extended, it can be extended for three months with the approval of the administrative department for industry and commerce. If a party is dissatisfied with the decision of the Trademark Review and Adjudication Board, it may file a lawsuit with the people's court within 30 days from the date of receipt of the notice.

Legal analysis: The specific and common reasons for the rejection of trademarks in China mainly include the following: 1. The application for similar trademarks is rejected due to unfavorable trademark searches;2. Similar trademarks are rejected due to the blind search period;3. Violation of mandatory provisions:

The most basic reason for the rejection of a registered trademark is that it violates the prohibition and prohibition clauses of the Trademark Law.

Legal basis: Article 3 of the Trademark Law of the People's Republic of China.

Trademarks approved and registered by the Trademark Office are registered trademarks, including commodity trademarks, service trademarks, collective trademarks, and certification trademarks; The trademark registrant enjoys the exclusive right to use the trademark and is protected by law.

For the purposes of this Law, the term "collective trademark" refers to a sign registered in the name of a group, association or other organization for use by the members of the organization in commercial activities to indicate the user's membership in the organization.

For the purposes of this Law, the term "certification mark" refers to a sign controlled by an organization that has the ability to supervise a certain kind of goods or services, and is used by an entity or individual other than the organization for its goods or services to prove the origin, raw materials, manufacturing methods, quality or other specific qualities of the goods or services.

Special matters concerning the registration and management of collective trademarks and certification marks shall be prescribed by the administrative department for industry and commerce.