1. Patents
Patents are exclusive, regional and time-limited. Exclusivity means that they cannot be used without the permission of the patent owner. Regionality means that the patent applied for is only valid in the country or region where it is applied for. For example, a patent applied for in China cannot be used in the United States. Time limit means that the patent is only valid for a certain period of time.
As for this period, it varies from country to country. Even within a country, different patent types have different periods of time. For example, in my country, the longest validity period of invention patents is 20 years, but for utility model patents, it is 10 years. Not only that, within the patent protection period, patent fees must be paid every year, otherwise the patent will be deemed invalid, so that the patent becomes a public technology that everyone can use.
2. Trademarks
Trademarks are also regional and exclusive, that is, even if the seller has registered a brand trademark in China, if it is not registered in the United States, it is not protected by US law, and it is also not protected on Amazon. When it comes to applying for trademarks, it needs to be mentioned here that the principles of trademark application in various countries and regions are not quite the same. Here we take China, the United States and the European Union as examples to illustrate.
(1) China. The use of Chinese trademarks follows the principle of “registration first”, that is, whoever registers with the government first will be protected by law. In addition, before the trademark is announced, China will conduct a substantive review of the trademark. If the trademark consists of Chinese, English and graphics, China will review the three parts separately, which means that if any one of the parts fails to pass the review, the trademark will not pass the review.
(2) The United States. The United States follows the principle of “first use”, that is, the acquisition of trademark rights is based on the actual commercial use of the trademark, and the trademark registration certificate is only a preliminary evidence of the right. That is to say, when registering a trademark in the United States, evidence of use must be provided. What if you are just preparing to enter the US market and have not used the trademark in the US market? At this time, there are two ways to operate: ① First register on Amazon, put the product on the Amazon store, then take a screenshot of the page and save it, and then attach the Amazon store link. This information can be used as a very formal evidence of trademark use. ② If the seller’s company has sales dealings with a company in the United States, it can submit a series of evidence such as sales contracts, relevant bills, or customs import and export lists to prove that the seller has used the trademark in the United States.
(3) European Union. Unlike China, the European Union does not have a substantive review process for trademark registration. In other words, as long as the seller’s trademark does not cause any adverse impact on society, the trademark will be directly announced after it is submitted, and trademarks with similar meanings can also be announced. However, don’t think it’s that simple. There are many lawyers in the European Union who will monitor these announcements. Once they monitor similar trademarks, they will notify the relevant trademark rights holders. Therefore, the main risk of registering a trademark in the European Union comes from the objections between the rights holders of the trademarks, that is, objections.
3. Copyright
All copyrights registered in China are protected by the Berne Convention. Currently, the Convention has 167 members. my country became a member of the Convention on October 15, 1992. There are currently about 224 countries and regions in the world, that is, copyrights registered in China are protected by the Berne Convention.