Pay Attention to the Change of a Registered Trademark Registrant’s Information

There is a misunderstanding on the management of registered trademarks that once the trademark has been registered, the registrant only has to pay attention to the renewal procedure. However, if the registrant changes its name or address and etc., it shall file the relevant changes to the Trademark Office in time, otherwise, someday, it might encounter unexpected risks.

Risk No.1: The registered trademark might be revoked due to failure to file the changes in time.

Paragraph 1, Article 49 of “Trademark Law” stipulates, where, in using a registered trademark, the registrant changes the registered trademark, the name or address of the registrant, or any other registered matter without approval, the local administrative department for industry and commerce shall order the registrant to make correction within a prescribed time limit; and if the registrant fails to do so within the time limit, the Trademark Office could revoke the registered trademark. In view of this, if a registrant fails to file changes in time, it might lose the registered trademark.

Risk No.2: The registrant might miss the defense opportunity due to the failure in the reception of relevant trademark documents.

During the application period, if the applicant’s address has been changed, the applicant might not receive the relevant trademark documents sent by the Trademark Office, which might result in the delay to apply for the review, or other negative consequences. After a trademark has been registered, if any party files an opposition to the registered trademark, the registrant might lose the opportunity to defense, due to the failure in filing changes in time. For example, where a party applies to revoke a registered trademark with the reason that the use of this trademark has ceased for three consecutive years without good reasons, if the registrant fails to receive the relevant documents because it has changed its address, then the registrant would miss the opportunity to provide relevant evidence, and result in the revoke of the trademark.
Risk No.3: Negative effects related to the plan and use of the registered trademark.

For example, company “A” changes its name to “A+”, if it has signed a registered trademark license contract with company B, while filing the contract to the Trademark Office, the Trademark Office might reject such file, due to the different registration information of the registrant. Then company B might require company A to undertake the default fine. Or if a registrant plans to transfer or pledge the registered trademark for money for urgent usage, but the administration procedures would be delayed due to the failure in filing changes in time, then the registrant might lose a good commercial opportunity.

In order to avoid the above legal risks, it is recommended to file changes to the Trademark Office in time.