People are cheated mostly because they fail to understand common IP knowledge!
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Clients always complain about inexplicable calls to us, some callers even claim they are the Trademark Review and Adjudication Board, telling them the trademarks are in difficulty which can be solved with only money.
Especially recently, the most famous fraud is mailing trademark announcement with freight at destination to earn postage!
All such things violate the principle of good faith.
Seven real cases are disclosed as follows, and you can say why they are “frauds” based on the common knowledge shared in the article.
Who must read it: bosses, senior IP management staff, entrepreneurs
How many of the 7 traps of IP have trapped you?
Article of this theme was written in 2017 with the title “Big birds for all kinds of woods”.
Then we received complaints from so many clients that we systemized the information for anti-fraud.
Now because some organization’s fraud means are more and more skillful, based on the former version we update to conclude 7 traps.
We disclose them in the hope that they can help enterprise managers and entrepreneurs to get rid of them!
I
✎ How to cheat by the use of the quantity of categories and goods project?
You are told that multiple categories of goods are applied for, but actually in the contract or execution only one category is applied for, but fees of many categories are charged.
✎ Basic price and common knowledge of trademark registration
1. Generally the fee of applying one category for one trademark is 1300 to 2000 yuan.
Among it 270 yuan is the official fee charged by the country.
Note: official fee for online application is 270 yuan and that for paper application is 300 yuan, the remaining is the service fee charged by the agency.
2. The amount of fee depends on quantity of categories.
The concrete goods and services are the scope of the use of your brand in the future as well as the basis for the determination of right protection scope.
3. Generally 10 goods items can be assigned within 1 category, as long as there is no more than 10 goods items, no additional fee should be paid.
Real Case
Our colleague once received a client whospent 3900 yuan for one trademark when registering trademark through an agency.
But only 1 category is assigned for 3 goods, it means 1300 yuan is spent for applying for 1 kind of goods in 1 category. [Please refer to the above (3)]
In this contract, no concrete goods or services to be applied for are indicated, but they are among the most basic contents to be determined in trademark registration.
We suggested the enterprise to carefully review such contract and clearly check all rights and duties with the agency.
Although it is not so expensive to register a trademark, it is vital for the enterprise’s marketing, arrangement, and brand development.
II
✎ How to cheat by the use of the applicant’s eagerness to obtain registered trademark?
Only few days after the trademark registration, a pretender of the calls the Trademark Review and Adjudication Board called the enterprise, saying the trademark under registration was in dispute, which can only be settled by money.
✎Basic information of the procedures of trademark application
1. No dispute would befall a trademark just applied for.
At this time, the case of trademark application is still under formal examination, not yet the substantive examination.
2. During the Trademark Office’s preliminary review, generally the result of substantive examination would be issued about 7 – 9 months after the application.
3. The result of substantive examination will be communicated to you in form of preliminary announcement or rejection notice. The issue about substantive right will definitely not be communicated to you through telephone.
4. Besides, during the preliminary review of trademark, the governing authority is the Trademark Office (current full name: Trademark Office of National Intellectual Property Administration, PRC), not the Trademark Review and Adjudication Board.
Real Case
Only after 10 days of trademark application, a pretender of the Trademark Review Adjudication Board’s personnel called the enterprise:
It was alleged that, other enterprises had registered the same trademark in 45 categories, and if he wanted to reserve the priory rights, he needed to pay 13700 yuan to the Trademark Review and Adjudication Board.
The payment is required to be accomplished within certain period, otherwise it is too late for this case…
The expense of 13700 yuan was for the oppositions of the 44 categories other than the one it applied for, XX yuan for each category and 13700 yuan in total.
Only with this procedure the trademark applied for can be reserved, and it is promised in the contract that if this opposition fails, the agency enterprise will be responsible.
Thinking question: what are the personnel’s flaws in this call?
III
✎ How to cheat by the use of trademark announcement?
Your trademark has passed the preliminary and according to law there should be an announcement. At that time, a newspaper office always charged announcement fee 2000 – 5000 yuan at the excuse of publishing announcement for the enterprise.
✎ Basic knowledge about trademark announcement
1. The Trademark Office issues the Trademark Announcement to publish trademark registration and other relevant matters.
2. Since May 2016, the trademark announcement has been in form of electronic announcement without any paper form sent out.
3. Any official document sent by the office to the applicant is free of charge.
4. Other than the delivery announcement, the content in the announcement should be deemed as known or should be known by the public.
Real Case
A newspaper office always earn money by taking advantage of the Trademark Announcement…
I hope, when receiving such notification, an enterprise must consult your IP consultant and trademark agency, and learn more when making payment.
IV
✎ How to cheat by the use of protection of all categories?
With the reason of protecting all the 45 categories by submitting 1 category, the client is cheated to register domain name, which is beautified as being accepted by the online communications administration.
✎ Basic principles of protection by trademark laws
1. There is no trademark for which submitting 1 category can lead to protection of 45 categories. Even if the full names are well-known trademarks, there is certain relationship between the categories protected.
2. The only official authority to authorize the trademark is the Trademark Office, even for trademarks passing the stages of the Trademark Review and Adjudication Board and the court shall, the announcement and issue registration certificate will be made and issued by the Trademark Office.
3. Domain name and trademark are two different legal concepts, and the function of trademark could not be replaced by domain name, no matter which new term is granted to the domain name.
4. Legal concept should be clear, and the official authority’s name should be accurate. Be alert to the “edge ball” names of organizations [such as those with “bureau”].
5. Any legal concept or relevant rights are specified by corresponding laws.
✎ Countermeasures
1. If anyone informs you about any right, you can require corresponding legal basis to be presented. You need not to respond to those without legal basis.
2. Scope of rights should be determined according to corresponding provisions of law, be alert to disguised replacement of concept and exaggeration.
3. Sometimes through “ambiguous concept” some seemingly high-level concepts will be granted with some non-existing functions, and thus bringing unreasonable expectations to enterprise and lead them to make wrong decisions. Please refer to the above 2 items to avoid such consequence.
V
✎ Incomprehensive scope of protection, how?
This is unique because whether it is a trap or professional suggestion depends on whether the concrete added categories are connected with the enterprise’s actual goods or services, marketing methods, and future development area.
If the added categories are totally unrelated to the enterprise, but some ambiguous concepts are communicated. then you shall be alert.
✎ Principles to determine the categories of trademark application
1. Considering the choice of category, you must determine the category based on factors such as your enterprise’s actual sale and production as well as the development area in the future.
This is the reason why we directly communicate with principals of many enterprises or must form written report, it is to facilitate enterprises’ meeting discussions.
2. Besides, you should properly pay attention to defensive trademark registration, avoiding some enterprises’ taking advantage of your brand’s reputation after it prospers.
There are many cases of defensive trademark registration: e.g. “Ali grandpa”, “Ali papa”.
Real Case
After your trademark application is submitted, some organizations will call you:
“Your trademark has not been registered in some categories, which other enterprise (always referred to as a peer) wants to apply for; because I know you are using this trademark, I first ask whether you want to register, if the answer is yes, you should remit money before 12:00 this day to reserve your prior right.”
Thinking question: what are the personnel’s flaws in this call? What are the ambiguous concepts? Besides, in some levels this call contains certain professional knowledge points, but threat is undesirable.
VI
✎ The trap of no risk promise?
Promise you 100% success of your trademark application.
✎ Professional norms of IP agency
1. Each enterprise will face the blank period of trademark search, which should be treated rationally.
2. We will first learn what the blank period of search is.
※Blank period of search
When a trademark is searched, the Trademark Office’s open database should be used, but due to the following reasons some application data will be postponed:
(1) A foreign enterprise assign China’s application document through Madrid;
(2) Priority right application is submitted during the application;
(3) There are still lots of paper applications;
Therefore, some data of application are invisible during our trademark search, and thus objectively there is a blank period for search.
This is what we always described as risk of blank period of search. Of course, as long as the search is accurate and this risk is well controlled, the risk of application can be minimized.
Real Case
[Contract trap]
Nevertheless, there will be companies promising you 100% refund upon failure; but you should pay attention to the agreement in the contract:
In the contract, it is 100% acceptance, not 100% authorization. (Please pay attention to such wordplay)
The Trademark Office has specified that “100% promise of trademark registration is an illegal trademark agency act”. Please refer to the link on the bottom;
General normal agency companies will clarify risks for you and provide hints, instead of becoming the agency of the case by “promising unreasonably”.
Behind “promising unreasonably” there is impossibility of future implementation, so the applicants should restrain themselves when facing temptation.
VII
✎ What is the trap of mailing trademark announcement?
Because the trademark announcement is disclosed by http://sbj.cnipa.gov.cn/, it is easy to obtain the content of trademark announcement by learning a little.
Some companies printed in batch and mailed them to the applicants to gain postage with different amounts by cheating.
✎ Regular official operations by the Trademark Office
1. Since May 2016, the Trademark Office has adopted electronic announcement for trademark announcement, no longer mailing any paper trademark announcement.
2. Applicants need not to pay for any official document sent by the Trademark Office.
Real Case
This trick was especially ubiquitous during the first half of 2020! Many applicants have received documents not sent by their agencies.
Those documents lack of corresponding notes and cause many unnecessary troubles to applicants, some of which even made misunderstanding on their agencies.
So such acts to disturb industry order are undesirable.
Dear applicants, now can you avoid such traps?
Good industry order needs to be protected by all of you, and the true method of earning money must be based on honesty.
As service supplier, we should strive to improve our service level and get away from petty tricks.
We share this article for mutual encouragement and frequent introspection.
References
Source: the following is from the National Intellectual Property Administration http://sbj.cnipa.gov.cn/
Suspected illegal act violating trademark agency
http://sbj.cnipa.gov.cn/sbjg/201802/t20180209_272331.html
Hint about being alert to the fraud of gaining freight tat destination by mailing paper “trademark announcement”
http://sbj.cnipa.gov.cn/tzgg/202004/t20200424_314634.html
Website address for trademark announcement search
http://wsgg.sbj.cnipa.gov.cn:9080/tmann/annInfoView/homePage.html
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