Trademark registration may not always be successful. There are frequent cases of refusal to register it
Most refusals are due to the desire of sign owners to independently apply for trademark registration, which is often due to the desire to reduce costs. But such a desire leads to errors not only at the stage of checking the protectability of a designation, but at the stage of filing an application.
For example, the authors of the designation could omit elements prohibited from registration. In this case, representatives of Rospatent can send a document demanding that the designation be modified by removing prohibited elements from it, and then continue registration. However, such modification in the application is possible if this element is not dominant. If a trademark consists only of a prohibited element, the applicant is denied registration.
An important reason for refusal can also be the lack of checking against the databases of already registered trademarks. As a result, there is a danger that the designation is confusingly similar to the application or registered trademark. In this case, representatives of Rospatent will also refuse registration, since it violates the rights of bona fide copyright holders.
An important reason for refusal of registration may be the fact that the applicant used in the designation a geographical name that does not correspond to reality.
To avoid such a situation, it is necessary to contact professional patent attorneys who will carefully check the designation, taking into account all the criteria for its patentability.
However, if the applicant has received a refusal from Rospatent, you can try to find a way out of the difficult situation using such possibilities as:
- finalize the trademark;
- attempt to cancel the opposed trademark for non-use;
- obtain written consent from the owner of the opposing trademark that he does not object to registration;
- agree with the person who previously submitted the application to re-register it in the name of the applicant.
It is better to entrust the solution to all these complex issues to lawyers and patent attorneys for intellectual property, who can draw up a reasoned and convincing answer that they are right for an expert from FIPS. Otherwise, in an effort to save costs, the applicant may lose time and money not only for an unprofessional service provided, but also for the fee paid, since Rospatent does not return money in case of refusal of registration, and at the same time lost profits.
