A trademark is a symbol of a company’s corporate image. It is very important for a company to create a good trademark. A trademark represents an intangible asset. For the future development of the company, all aspects of the trademark must be taken seriously. It is recommended that companies start from the following aspects.
1. Proceed in a timely manner and obtain legal protection
my country implements the principle of registration protection for trademarks, that is, only registered trademarks are protected by law, and the trademark registration system implements the principle of prior protection, which protects trademarks with earlier registration time. Therefore, only by registering trademarks as soon as possible can companies be protected by law, free from infringement by counterfeiting and maintain a healthy brand image.
2. Treat trademark naming correctly
A trademark is a symbol of a company’s image. The naming and design of a trademark must not only be beautiful and pleasant to the ear, but also comply with the relevant provisions of the Trademark Law, otherwise it will not be registered for protection due to violation of prohibitive provisions. Some companies lack consideration for legal requirements when naming their trademarks, and are quite arbitrary. Some trademarks that look good are rejected by the Trademark Office for registration because they violate the prohibitive provisions of the law; in addition, if an enterprise chooses to register a descriptive trademark or a place name trademark that lacks distinctiveness, it is difficult to be effectively protected even if it is approved for registration.
3. Properly reserve trademarks to meet market demand
According to the procedures for applying for trademark registration, the time from application to approval for registration of a trademark is about one and a half years. If you encounter a waiting procedure, the trademark will not be obtained for three to five years. Therefore, an enterprise cannot wait until the trademark is about to be or has been put into actual use before applying for registration. In this way, there will be two situations. One is that the trademark will not be protected by the Trademark Law for more than a year or even longer, and it is easy to be counterfeited; the other is that the trademark is likely to have been applied for registration by others, and there is a risk of infringing on the prior trademark rights of others. In either case, it is bound to bring losses to the enterprise. Therefore, an enterprise must have a certain trademark reserve, that is, apply for some spare trademarks first to adapt to its own development and market needs.
4. Reasonably select goods and protect related industries or industries that may be involved
The application for registration of trademarks is registered according to the international classification of goods, and each category of goods includes many product groups, and each product group is divided into several specific goods. Only by reasonably selecting appropriate goods according to certain rules can the goods involved in the trademark be protected to the maximum extent. In addition, some companies make extremely unreasonable choices of goods to be used when applying for trademarks. They often only choose goods that the company is actually producing, without considering the goods that should be protected, which affects the development of the company. Some companies have not registered in industries that will have a negative impact on the industry (such as manufacturers in the food industry have not registered feed or rat poison products), resulting in the ugliness of the trademark, affecting the good image of the company and the brand in the minds of consumers.
5. Reasonable and standardized use of registered trademarks to prevent trademark dilution
my country’s Trademark Law and related regulations have a relatively strict trademark management system for the use of trademarks. In addition, trademark affairs are highly professional. Although trademarks are the intangible property of enterprises, it does not mean that enterprises can use their own trademarks at will. Reasonable use of trademarks mainly includes: correctly marking registered symbols, not changing registered trademarks without authorization, not using registered trademarks across categories, not adding and combining trademarks at will, etc. If registered trademarks are not used correctly, once reported by competitors or discovered by the industrial and commercial departments, the enterprise will fall into a passive position and suffer penalties. At the same time, the correct and reasonable use of trademarks can also effectively prevent trademarks from diluting or degenerating into commodity names.
6. Treat trademark licensing with caution
Enterprises should treat trademark licensing with caution, not license trademarks to manufacturers with poor qualifications and low reputation, and not easily authorize the use of trademarks. Strengthen the quality management of trademark licensees or OEM manufacturers to maintain the reputation of trademarks.
7. Actively maintain and defend trademarks
As trademark rights are civil rights, only when the right holder actively exercises the right can the benefits brought by the right be maintained for a long time. Regular trademark monitoring and actively raising objections to announced trademarks that may harm the interests of the enterprise and actively cracking down on behaviors can maintain and enhance the distinctiveness and recognition of the trademark and maintain the market value of the trademark.