The right granted by the international registration of trademarks is a trademark registered by the International Bureau, which is called an internationally registered trademark. Internationally registered trademarks are regarded as direct registrations in protected countries.
Of course, every protecting country designated by the application for international registered trademark should accept the application for protection according to its own laws. Where a trademark applied for protection, that is, a trademark requiring territorial extension protection, is rejected by a country designated for protection within 1 year (or 18 months) from the date of registration by the International Registration Department, the applicant may entrust an agent to apply for a complaint according to the national laws of the rejected country; If the application for protection is not rejected within 1 year (or 18 months), the trademark has been protected.
The validity period of an internationally registered trademark is 10 year. According to the Madrid Agreement, the validity period of registered trademarks is still 20 years, but the validity period of trademarks registered according to the Protocol is 10 years. In the future, it will be 65,438+00 years to apply for international registration of trademarks according to the agreement and protocol. For the trademark that has been registered internationally according to the agreement, if the required protection period is 65,438+00 years, and it still needs to be protected in the relevant countries after the expiration of 65,438+00 years, the second 65,438+00-year fee shall be paid according to the protection period and charging standard stipulated in the implementation rules of the agreement and the protocol. If a trademark that has been registered internationally according to the agreement needs to be designated at a later stage, the basic registration fee and supplementary registration fee shall be paid at a later stage.
The scope of protection granted by the international registration of trademarks can also be expanded. That is, after the international registration of a trademark, the trademark owner can also expand the scope of protection of his trademark according to the needs of the development of foreign trade, that is, apply to the International Bureau for territorial extension through the Trademark Office to extend the registration to other Madrid Union member countries whose trademarks are not protected. Applying for a trademark with effective territorial extension is also regarded as direct registration in the relevant Madrid Union member countries.
Madrid treaty countries
199 1 At the end, the Madrid Union had 29 member countries. After the disintegration of the Soviet Union and the development in recent years, there are now 43 member countries, except Algeria, Germany, Austria, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Bulgaria, Egypt, France, Hungary, Italy, Liechtenstein, Spain, Monaco, Mongolia, Portugal, Morocco, Romania, San Marino, Sudan, Switzerland, North Korea and Vietnam, most of which are Eurasian countries. Since 1989/kloc-0 officially became a member of madrid agreement concerning the international registration of marks on October 4th, it began to handle the international registration of Madrid trademarks.
The international registration of trademarks has opened up a new channel for enterprises to register trademarks abroad, that is, in addition to submitting a single registration application to the registration authorities of various countries through agents, they can also apply for international registration of trademarks through the State Trademark Office, extending from the international bureau to all relevant countries.
However, it must be clear that applying for international registration does not mean that its trademark is protected all over the world. There are no countries such as the United States, Britain and Japan among the members of the Madrid Agreement.
Therefore, even if the Madrid Agreement is registered internationally, it can only be valid in its member countries, and it must be specified, that is, it is invalid if it is not specified.
Even if it is specified at the time of application, it may not be valid. Because the designated country wants to review, it does not conform to the laws of that country or has a prior registrant, the trademark will be rejected, and of course it does not enjoy the exclusive right.
The international registration of trademarks has added a convenient way for member countries to apply for registered trademarks abroad. Save time, effort and money, but not all countries in the world apply for national registration.
Non-Madrid treaty countries
1. All countries in the world have similar procedures for applying for trademark registration. In general, the applicant needs to provide the following documents and go through relevant formalities:
1. Main documents to be provided
(1) application. All countries require to fill in the application form, except the United States, which stipulates that the application form must be filled out by the applicant himself. Most other countries do not stipulate that application forms can be filled in by agents, and they also accept such applications. Because different countries have different regulations on commodity classification, applicants often don't know how to fill it out, so they have to entrust an agent to fill in the vacancy application form signed in advance. The contents of the application are basically the same in different countries, mainly including:-the trademark applied for registration, the goods and varieties used, the applicant (enterprise name), the person in charge (signature) and position, and the enterprise address. Some countries also require the applicant to be a manufacturer or a seller, or both; -the earliest date of use of the trademark in the country applying for registration (proof that the goods are sold in that country is required); -If the text of the trademark is not the language of the country, the meaning and transliteration of the trademark text are required. -Many countries also stipulate that for commodities that are difficult to identify, the purpose and main raw materials must be stated, with samples and explanations attached. In addition, most countries stipulate that 65,438+0 applications should be filled in for each trademark, with a few exceptions. As long as the trademarks are the same, only 1 application is allowed for several different kinds of goods.
(2) Power of attorney. Power of attorney is an important document for trademark applicants to entrust and authorize their agents to apply for trademark registration. In most countries, a power of attorney must be attached when applying for registration.
The procedures for handling power of attorney are also different. Generally speaking, developed countries have wider requirements, such as the United States, France, Germany, Japan and other countries, which require the power of attorney to be signed by the applicant without notarization and authentication procedures. Some countries require that the power of attorney must be notarized or authenticated. It is stipulated that the power of attorney should be notarized, but if the other country does not need notarization or authentication, it should also be handled in accordance with the principle of reciprocity.
(3) domestic registration certificate. Some countries, such as some countries of the Madrid Agreement and Arab countries in the Middle East, stipulate that when applying for trademark registration, the registration certificate of the trademark in their own country must be submitted. Some countries also require the registration authority to provide proof that the trademark is valid for 10 years for the registration certificate issued before the publication of the Trademark Law.
(4) nationality certificate and enterprise registration certificate. A nationality certificate is a document that proves the nationality of an applicant. If the applicant is a company organization, it only needs to be confirmed in his own country, that is, it is a company organized according to the laws of that country. Some countries stipulate that enterprise registration certificates can be submitted, and extracts from company and trade registration can be used instead of nationality certificates.
(5) Other documents. A few countries also require some other documents, such as Switzerland's request to confirm the address of the enterprise; South Yemen requires trademark ownership declaration, etc. 2. Different countries have different requirements for trademark patterns. Some countries require 5 to 10 or 10 to 20. Patterns vary in size, and some stipulate that the maximum size should not exceed 10 cm? 10cm, or 7.5cm? 7.5 cm, the smallest is generally not less than 3 cm? 3 centimeters. Trademark pattern is a better plate printing, and some countries do not accept photo patterns. When printing patterns, do not add "registered trademark" or? Mark, because these words and marks can't be registered as a part of the trademark, only after the trademark is approved for registration, are you allowed to add comments. 3. Pay the required registration fee. All countries' trademark laws stipulate that a trademark application for registration must pay a fee, and if it is not paid, it will not be registered. German trademark law stipulates that each application for trademark registration shall pay an application fee, and the classification fee shall be paid according to the fee schedule of each category or subcategory of goods and services requested to be protected in the attached classification table. If the fee is not paid, the Patent Office will immediately notify the applicant. If the fee is not paid within one month after receiving the notice, the registered trademark shall be deemed to have been withdrawn. If the application is withdrawn or the registration application is rejected, the fees paid will be refunded.
4. The trademark system of priority declaration is an international system. Therefore, many international treaties coordinate the protection of trademark rights, the most important of which is the priority stipulated in the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property. This principle has been generally recognized by the members of the alliance. All foreigners who enjoy priority treatment can apply for priority. After filing an application for trademark registration with the Trademark Office, the applicant may file an application with any other country within six months. If the applicant wants priority, it must be stated in the application documents. The priority statement requiring the earlier application must indicate the country, date and number of the earlier application.
Two. Examination and approval of overseas trademark registration applications
Trademarks and patents belong to industrial property rights. Therefore, apart from the trademarks and patents of individual countries, the trademark and patent authorities in most countries are together, and the trademark authorities are also patent authorities. For example, the United States Patent and Trademark Office, the British Patent Office, the Japanese Patent Office (Patent Office), the Indian Patent Design Bureau, the Canadian Patent Copyright and Design Bureau, the Mexican Bureau of Economic Affairs, the industrial property offices of France, Brazil, the Netherlands, Belgium and Norway, the patent offices of the Philippines, Indonesia and Italy, the Danish Patent and Trademark Registration Office, the Swedish Patent Registration Office, the Swiss Intellectual Property Office, the invention discovery committee of the former Soviet Union, the Australian Patent and Trademark Office and the New Zealand Patent and Design Trademark Office.
After receiving the trademark application, the competent trademark registration authorities of various countries shall examine the application. However, the forms of review are different.
Some countries only conduct formal examination, that is, whether the documents and procedures for applying for a trademark are complete, and other examinations are not conducted.
In some countries, besides formal examination, substantive examination is required, such as whether the applicant is qualified for trademark registration, whether he has applied for a prior trademark, and whether he has violated the prohibition clause of the Trademark Law.
After examination, some countries approved the registration, while others raised objections, and published the preliminarily approved trademarks in the publication Trademark Announcement sponsored by the trademark authorities. Within the prescribed time limit, usually 1-3 months, let the public put forward their opinions to help the exam. Within the prescribed time limit, anyone can object to whether the trademark applied for registration conforms to the provisions of the trademark law of his country. If no objection is raised or the objection is not established within the objection period, the competent trademark authority of that country shall approve the registration, register it in the trademark registration book and issue a trademark registration certificate, and the applicant shall obtain the exclusive right to use the trademark in that country.
After submitting an application for trademark registration abroad, if there is no problem with the trademark, it will take about one and a half to two years to approve the registration. However, the examination time, customary practices and examination standards of trademarks vary from country to country. For example, the things used in writing and graphics are different from those used abroad. The local registration authority may ask some questions, and the applicant must reply within the prescribed time limit. If you can't answer within the prescribed time limit, you can apply for an extension, otherwise it will be regarded as giving up the application.
In the process of trademark examination, foreign trademark's agent's handling of the issues raised by the local trademark registration authority plays an important role in whether the trademark can be registered as soon as possible. Because they are familiar with local review standards and cases, they can explain the topics raised by local registration authorities according to local laws and relevant regulations. Sometimes our trademark can be registered without asking us for an answer.
In some countries, if the local registration authority still refuses to approve the registration, the applicant can request a re-examination. If the re-examination is rejected, the applicant may appeal to the court. In some countries, there is no provision for re-examination, and the applicant can directly appeal to the court.
Therefore, it is necessary to understand the registration governance system and corresponding norms of foreign trademarks, as well as the procedures and requirements of international trademark registration, so as to apply for trademark registration for export commodities in time. This is of great significance for protecting the exclusive right to use trademarks, opening up the export commodity market and making it enter and occupy the international market.