Hong Kong Trademark Registration
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Advantages of Hong Kong trademark registration
Hong Kong is a world-renowned free port and financial center with a sound legal system and infrastructure, making it a favored investment destination for global companies. The registration of business standards in Hong Kong can quickly improve the visibility and competitiveness of enterprises, and help overseas investors rely on Hong Kong to develop the mainland market.
Principles of protection:
A prior to use
Types and validity of trademarks
Trademark type: Commodity trademarks, service trademarks, serial trademarks, defensive trademarks, body trademarks, odor trademarks, certification trademarks
Validity and renewal of trademarks: The term of validity of the Chinese trademark shall be 10 years
Trademark revocation: Any registered trademark that violates the relevant provisions of China’s trademark law or ceases to be used for three consecutive years will be revoked by the trademark office according to law.
Requirements and procedures for trademark application
Application requirements:
Hong Kong law has no special requirements on the subject qualification of trademark applicants. Any natural person or legal person team can apply for registration. A natural person only needs to submit a photocopy of his/her personal id card or passport for registration, and the legal person needs to provide a photocopy of the business license.
Trademark rights:
The time for acquiring trademark rights in Hong Kong shall be counted from the date of filing the application for trademark registration.
Priority:
The applicant may enjoy priority in the registration of a trademark if, within six months prior to the filing of the application for a trademark in Hong Kong, an application for the registration of that trademark for the same product or service has been filed with the state of the Paris convention or a wto member.
Registration time: About 6-8 months
Registration search: When registering a Hong Kong trademark, it may be rejected by the Hong Kong intellectual property department because the previous trademark or similar trademark has been registered.
Registration information required: The name of the commodity or item list of the trademark to be protected in Chinese or foreign language
Registration process: Submission of trademark search – application for initial approval – formal approval – gazetted – certificate collection
Hearing of opinions:
If an application for registration of a trademark does not comply with the registration requirements of the Hong Kong trade marks ordinance, the trade marks registry will give its opinion on the trademark. The applicant must reach the relevant requirements within 6 months. If the amendment does not meet the requirements, the applicant may request a hearing within 3 months from the date on which the trademark registry makes another submission.
Statement of objection:
After the application is accepted by the trademark registry, it will be published in the Hong Kong intellectual property gazette for three months during which any person may object to the application. The applicant may withdraw the application for registration or file a counterclaim, and the trademark registry may arrange for the opposition and the applicant to appear before the hearing and make a ruling.
Tip:
The trademark applicant is required to provide a Hong Kong delivery address, telephone number, fax number and email address for the trademark registry to contact at any time.P.o. box or “care” addresses are not accepted by the Hong Kong trade marks register.
Trademark change:
A registered trademark in Hong Kong may change such matters as the name and address of the trademark applicant, registrant, etc., but only so long as the changes made do not significantly affect the essence of the trademark.
Trademark transfer:
Hong Kong registered trademarks can be transferred through transfer, in the same way as other non-land property transfer.Hong Kong trademarks may be transmitted independently or in connection with the goodwill of any business.
Trademark licensing:
Hong Kong trademark licensing is divided into general licensing or limited licensing. The franchise must be made in writing and signed or sealed by or on behalf of the grantor, unless otherwise provided, the franchise is binding on the successor to the grantor’s interest.
Hong Kong trademark rights protection:
Trademark opposition:
In Hong Kong, any person may object to a trademark application published. The opposing party shall file a notice of opposition within three months from the date of publication of the trademark, and provide evidence within a specified time limit. Ifthe opponent loses the hearing arranged by the trade marks registry, he may be required to pay costs to the other party.
Tort action:
The owner of a registered trademark may Sue for infringement of that trademark. Inthe anti-infringement process, the owner of a registered trademark may receive relief in the form of damages, injunctions, surrender of profits or other forms.
FUTURE WELL License Consulting Center has rich experience in trademark registration for many years, which can help you deal with trademark registration and application, saving customers’ precious time and energy, and being your faithful partner on the road to success. Fees for trademark agency registration It depends on the complexity of each case.
Hongkong & international Registration Management
Madrid trademark registration:
Trademark protection is regional, and registration of overseas trademarks is helpful for enterprises to develop overseas markets and create international brands, as well as an effective tool for enterprises to obtain legal protection in target countries and avoid trademark registration.Madrid trademark registration is an international trademark registration method based on the Madrid agreement on international trademark registration and the relevant protocol of the Madrid agreement on international trademark registration. It has the characteristics of low cost, time saving, labor saving and wide coverage, and is an important choice for investors to register overseas trademarks.
Basic registration principles:
Madrid trademark registration has basic registration requirements. The applicant must first file a domestic trademark application with the trademark office of the country to which it belongs, and then apply for Madrid international trademark registration on the basis of its domestic trademark application or domestic registered trademark.
To apply for the international registration of Madrid on the basis of a domestic registered trademark, member states of the protocol and/or the agreement may be designated;
To apply for Madrid international registration on the basis of the domestic trademark application case, only the member states of the protocol can be designated, not the member states of the agreement.
Membership list:
Validity and renewal of trademarks:
The Madrid trademark shall be valid for 10 years and shall be renewed for 10 years upon expiration
Trademark revocation:
A madrid-registered trademark extended to China shall be revoked if it has not been used for 3 consecutive years from the expiration of the time limit for rejection in China. The period of three consecutive years for not using an international registered trademark that has been rejected or opposed shall be counted from the date on which the final decision on the approval of the registration of that trademark is published in the international trademark notice.
- The application requirements
- The applicant is a national or legal person of the member state
- A domicile or place of business in a member’s state
Characteristics of Madrid trademarks
The procedure is simple: trademark applicants need only submit one application to obtain trademark protection in multiple designated countries;
Low fee: no matter how many member states the applicant designates, it only needs to pay one basic registration fee. The more countries the applicant designates, the lower the average fee will be.
Short time: the applicant can obtain the international trademark registration certificate issued by the international bureau within about 6 months from the date of filing the application for registration.
Has limitations: registered trademark application for Madrid international registration, the trademark content based applications, such as trademark holder must be with domestic are exactly the same, or a registered trademark is also necessary for the specified goods or services to the same or shrink, but the same trademark, trademark holder in the basis of two different categories indicated above, can be merged into a class in Madrid international registration;
Language: the trademark application must be in English or French.
priority
According to the Paris convention, trademark applicants who file an application for the registration of a trademark with two Paris convention member states enjoy the right of priority within six months, and can use the date of the first application as the date of the second application.
Registration effectiveness
The registration effect of trademarks in Madrid is unstable. If the basic registration of the country of origin is revoked, rejected or declared invalid within 5 years after the application in Madrid, the whole Madrid application will also be invalid.
Only after five years can Madrid apply for basic registration independent of the country; Within five years of applying in Madrid, anyone can achieve the goal of striking down the trademark rights of all member states in the international registration only by striking down the domestic basic registration of the applicant.
Register for the 18 to 24 months
Registration to retrieve
Through the Madrid system registered trademarks, only the Madrid system has been applied for the trademark, but not to the designated countries to inquire.
Information required for registration The power of attorney
- The application form
- Applicant’s identification information
- Photocopy of trademark registration certificate or acceptance certificate of the country of affiliation
- The samples of the trademarks
- The registration process
- Application for basic registration
- International application
- International bureau review
- Designated state review
- Review by designated and agreed states
Trademark rejected
Whether the trademark applied for can be approved for registration in the designated country shall be decided by each designated country in accordance with its own laws. Ifthe designated state does not protect it, a declaration to the international bureau is required to reject it. Ifno notification of rejection is received within 12 months from the date of international registration or within 18 months from the state of protocol, the trademark is automatically protected in that state or the state of protocol.
Objection to reply
Where an opposition is filed against the applied trademark, the applicant may, within 30 days from the date of receipt of the notification from the international bureau, defend the trademark. The failure of the respondent to reply within the statutory time limit shall not affect the ruling on trademark opposition.
On October 1, 2004, the European Union as a whole joined the Madrid agreement. When registering Madrid trademark, the eu can be designated at the same time as the 28 member states of the eu.
The trademark transfer
The transfer of a trademark in Madrid shall be notified to the international bureau, which shall register it, notify other registration authorities and publish it in a publication.Ifthe transfer is made within five years of the international registration, the international bureau shall also obtain the consent of the new owner’s national registration authority.Where the transfer cannot be registered in the international register because the new owner’s state objects to it or transfers it to a person not entitled to apply for international registration, the original owner’s national registration authority shall have the right to ask the international bureau to revoke the trademark in its register.
Trademark license
To permit others to use madrid-registered trademarks extended to China, the relevant procedures shall be handled in accordance with the trademark law of China and its implementing regulations.
Logo change
The owner of the mark changes the Madrid mark, and if the change affects the international registration, the registration authority of the country of origin shall notify the international bureau. The international bureau registers the change in the international register and notifies the registration authorities of the contracting states.
