Procedures and Timing for Trademark Transfer - China

Transfer the registered trademark is one of the most important ways for the registrant to deal with his trademark privileges, which means the trademark registrant transfers all the exclusive use of trademarks to others according to legal procedures.
Registered trademark transfer is different from modification of name of registered trademark registrant. The original registrant is no longer the trademark holder after he transfers his entire trademark privileges; while after modification of name of registered trademark registrant, the original registrant is still the subject owner.
The trademark registrant is known as the registered trademark transferor, while the transferee refers to the one who accepts the trademarks.
Registered trademarks shall be transferred according to legal procedures, which will be announced publicly after the approval of the trademark office. Anyone who transfers his registered trademark to others without fulfilling the legal procedures is illegal, and the trademark office has the rights to order the correction within a specified period, or revoke ones registered trademark. The trademark transferee also shall guarantee the quality of the goods under the registered trademark. This article will introduce the required materials and procedures as well as the deadline and costs to deal with trademark transfer in the following part:
(1). Required materials of registered trademark transfer
1. Certificate of qualification of the transferor (copy);
2. Application for Assignment of a Registered Trademark;
3. Certificate of qualification of the transferee (copy);
4. Appellate Notice or the transferred trademark registration certificate (copy);
5. Letter of Authorization.
If a trademark agency is entrusted to handle trademark transfer, besides the above documents, one still need to provide Letter of Authorization signed or sealed by the transferee. As for the foreign company, the Letter of Authorization shall be signed by the responsible person of the company. If the transferee is enterprise within the territory of China, the Letter of Authorization shall have official seal. The overseas transferee applying for trademark transfer must entrust a trademark agency to handle it.
In addition, both the application and authorization for trademarks transfer are format text provided by the trademark office, so the applicant must sign or seal according to the strict format text, any justification on the document format will lead to un-acceptance by the trademark office . If a party for trademark transfer is foreign enterprise, the qualification certificate shall have Chinese translation. Domestic enterprises shall submit the duplicate of the business license (copy).
(2).Processing time and relevant fees
Registered trademark transfer can be handled after the applicant receive Appellate Notice for registered trademark or get the registration certificate. The processing time required is 6-8 months time since the date of application being accepted by the Trademark Office. The official fee is RMB 1000 per case, additional service fee will be charged by the agency.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Sinolink Consulting
Sino-Link Consulting is a comprehensive consulting firm based in Beijing, aiming at providing the full spectrum of international business and legal consulting services for clients interested in manufacturing, investing, or opening an office or factories in China. Sino-Link is a specialist in guiding SMEs, and family-owned businesses to expand their operations in China.