The difference between the registered trademark and the unregistered trademark in our China

A registered trademark is a trademark that has been registered by the Trademark Office of the PRC in accordance with the legal procedures.

Unregistered trademark is a trademark that has not been registered but been used on the product or service.

1, the registered trademark is protected by China

Article 3 of our Trademark Law stipulates that the trademark which has been approved and registered by the trademark office of the PRC is a registered trademark, trademark registrants enjoy the right to exclusive use of a registered trademark, protected by law.

2, "trademark law" on the protection of unregistered trademarks is concerned, reflects the two characteristics:

 (1) There are two types of unregistered trademarks protected by the trademark law, including unregistered well-known trademarks and unregistered trademarks which have a certain impact and influence on our domestic market.

(2) The contents of the protecting rights of the two unregistered trademarks are different.

The exclusive right to use of unregistered well-known trademarks is recognized and protected in our China, even thought not registered with our trademark office; and as for another type of non-registered trademark of which having a certain impact only give priority to their registration rights.

1S, Article 13 of trademark law : "on the same similar goods to apply for registration of the trademark is the reproduction, imitation, or a translation of well-known trademarks which is not registered in China that easily leads to confusion, shall not be registered and prohibited from use."

Article 31 of Trademark law: "application for trademark registration shall not damage the existing prior rights of others, and may not be the first to use unfair means to register others which have been used and have a certain impact on the trademark." The second paragraph of Article 41 provides that: "trademark has been registered in violation of the provisions of this law of Article 13, Article 31, within five years after the registration of such trademark, the original holder of the trademark or the relevant interested party can request the Trademark Review and Adjudication Board for adjudication to cancel the registered trademark. For complaining to preempt malicious registrant, the well-known trademark owners are not subject to the time limit of five years."

3, ordinary common unregistered trademarks are not protected by the Trademark Law of PRC.

The Trademark Law to protecting of common unregistered trademark does not make clear provisions. Therefore, it is always in an un-protected status in our china, may at any time be banned and prohibited used in China if the same or similar trademark has been registered. Therefore, in order to protect your trademark in our huge profitable market, it is best to act as soon as possible .