In the recent eventful year, the trademark registration of this big melon continues to ferment. the end of June, a company fraudulent use of the signature of a deceased lawyer was investigated. Soon after that, a well-known Shenzhen company was implicated. A lot of sellers are also deeply involved, sellers are also doubly helpless.
The investigation by the U.S. Bureau of Trademarks is over 600 pages long and is very rigorous and detailed, including information about the company, the pages, and the questions asked by the attorneys.
It involves more contents and there are three problems as follows:
1, on behalf of the lawyer's signature, fake lawyer-related information and signature;
2. Misuse of a USPTO account to provide fraudulent information, knowing and willfully concealing this behavior;
3. Three lawyers have been contacted to sign such an agreement with the company, knowing that the company is using other people's names in violation of the law, filing trademarks in the name of the lawyers, and handling various documents issued by the Trademark Office.
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The list of brands involved this time mainly apply for dates between 2017-2020, and of course there are also earlier dates such as 2015, 2016 and so on. Sellers can check for themselves to see if they have been hit, and if so, they should remedy the situation in time.
Attachment Link: USPTO Official Web Portal: https://www.uspto.gov/
In response to this incident, the USPTO imposed the following specific sanctions.
1. permanently prohibit the company and its related personnel from submitting trademark-related documents; and
2. Deleting the trademark-related documents submitted by the respondent, or otherwise not adopting the letter; and
3. removing communications relating to Respondent from the database of all applications and/or registrations filed with the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
4. directing the USPTO Office of the Chief Information Officer to permanently deactivate any USPTO accounts that appear to be associated with the Respondent and to take all reasonable steps to prevent the creation or activation of additional accounts.
5. The relevant credit card used to pay for the fees required for the trademark application filed by the Respondent will be disabled.
6. to terminate all proceedings in which the Respondent is engaged, including those in which he or she has filed an opinion.
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Soon after the incident was exposed, many sellers gave feedback that their trademarks were on it. Some sellers registered dozens of all won, so the "winning", most sellers want to know how to deal with or remedy?
Collecting actual cases in the industry and summarizing the experience for your reference.
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Program I:
Before the U.S. Trademark and Patent Office issues a final decision, immediately file a deregistration of the old trademark on Amazon, register a new trademark, and file it again after you get a receipt. Do your best to avoid Amazon marking your store. (Last year, there were 1.5W trademark cases in which some sellers used this method to save their old stores.)
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Program II:
First, register the new brand, then file the new brand on Amazon after implementation, and then de-file the old brand from Amazon after successful filing.
Trademark Filing Methods Warning | No Escape from Providing False Evidence of Use for U.S. Trademarks, Compliance Filing Methods are All in One Place
Frequently Asked Questions
Ask
Can the invalidated trademark be restored by other means such as transferring the trademark to another agent or changing the legal person?
echo
According to the results of the previous USPTO ruling, the application process of the trademark in question will be terminated, and operations such as switching agents and changing legal entities are applicable to trademarks that are still in the normal application process, so once the trademark is facing revocation, these measures are ineffective.
Ask
If I want to keep my original trademark, what should I do and how can I remedy the situation?
echo
Once a trademark is revoked, it means that the previous application process is null and void, and if you want to keep the original trademark, you have to go through the application process again. However, there is no guarantee that Amazon will be able to file a new application and keep its stores.
The previous is a corresponding successful case, if the old brand trademark or this store is very important to you, it is recommended to use this way to try to operate, try to take remedial measures.
Ask
Can the same applicant/applying entity be used for re-registration of trade mark?
echo
In principle, the main reason for the revocation of the trademark is that there are problems with the qualification of the attorney and the operation of the agency. If there is no problem with the trademark application information, it is only necessary to change the qualified agency to re-submit the application.
If you want to apply for a change of entity, it is recommended that the original trademark be revoked at the Trademark Office, because the original trademark is still in the status of registration, and if the name is not consistent, it may lead to a similarity examination opinion.
Ask
Is there any risk of trademark squatting after the revocation of the trademark in question? What is the impact on the Amazon account?
echo
First point:
Trademark applications in the U.S. are based on the principle of prior use and require the submission of true and valid evidence of use. Sellers who have already put their trademarks into production and use already have proof of trademark use. Generally speaking, if they encounter malicious cybersquatting, they can also use the proof of use to file objections or other invalid applications.
Therefore, based on this piece of information, we also call on you not to seize other people's trademarks, and this incident is not as simple as it seems.
Second point:
These trademarks should have been a lot of sellers have been put into use, according to many sellers reflect, in the platform are sold for two or three years, do the trademark filing, etc..
From the Amazon filing system, which has the function of synchronizing with the data of the Trademark Office, after the Trademark Office's trademark has been invalidated, in principle, this trademark is no longer an R trademark and does not have any exclusive rights.
There has been feedback from fellow sellers that the original brand has been taken down by Amazon. In this case, in order to ensure the safe operation of the account, it is recommended to register as soon as possible, in order to prepare for the re-filing.
Sellers in the choice of agency how to avoid lightning to identify?
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Companies just established
Many of the newly established companies have unstable timelines and their services are not guaranteed. The risk of running away with the money is higher, so it is recommended to choose a company that has been established for a longer period of time and has a slightly better known brand.
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Low price
Prices on the market vary and these can be risky. Then you need to be careful about raising the price midway or otherwise.
Conclusion
To summarize, the main purpose is to objectively and truthfully reflect the real situation of trademark holding or use. Therefore, the seller needs to evaluate the pass rate of resubmitting the trademark registration application based on the situation of the original trademark application and the authenticity of the evidence submitted.
Therefore, when you see a low-priced trademark, you have to pay more attention to it, and it is hard to say that there may be a trick, so you should know more about the basic situation of the agency before you go to the next step to make a judgment.
Green Circle has 6 years of experience in European tax and intellectual property rights, specializing in intellectual property rights and European tax issues, which also establishes a trademark registration support group for sellers.
Lastly, I hope that when sellers apply for U.S. trademarks or even other foreign trademarks, they must look for professional, reliable and honest business qualified units. Don't just try to get a cheap price! Professional services will have costs, and unreasonable pricing below costs will often bring unforeseen risks and losses!
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