Dear Sirs!
Let us look at an example of conditional goods and a conditional trademark.
The algorithm of interaction between a client and our company.
Prearranged work date is June 1st 20XX. With the help of this algorithm a client will be able to assess, from the very beginning, how much time will be spent on this service.
The client contacted our company and after primary consultations and it was established that he needs one patent for a trademark and one patent for industrial design (one patent for industrial design can contain several designs, for example, 5 door designs or 6 candy wrapper designs). We registered national patents (one country). In the beginning of the process the client assumed that he needs patents covering all of the European Union, but after discovering details of the process, we decided that it is not economically feasible to register patents for all of the countries on the preliminary stage.
The contract was signed on the 1st of June 20XX and the client paid for the service. At that moment, as an additional document to the contract, the client executed the power of attorney in order to perform the service. All of the documents were delivered to Bulgaria, to our office. For the convenience of the client the contract was signed with the company that is registered on the territory of the Russian Federation, but it is also possible to sign the contract with the company which is registered in the European Union.
Next the power of attorney was legalized and translated, in order to legitimize it on another country’s territory.
Let’s assume that the power of attorney is ready and the process starts on 15th of June 20XX.
Patent applications are prepared in the course of 5 business days (21st of June 20XX). Next the applications are forwarded to the Patent Office of the country which the client is interested in. A notice that the applications are accepted and the client needs to pay the deposits arrives in 45 business days. Maximum period is the end of July 20XX.
After the payment is done, the period of waiting starts. When it specifically comes to the trademark it is the period of trademark opposition, which lasts 6 months. And what does it mean? A trademark is put on the Patent Office’s website in order to see if any other company would claim that trademark. 99.9% of the time the trademark will pass the opposition and you will get a registered certificate. There is only one reason for rejection: one of your competitors applied before you. However, that problem can be avoided through preliminary research during the stages of registration and opposition. Or the second reason for rejection is if you are trying to register an already existing trademark which is already certified.
The procedure for registering an industrial design patent is easier and faster. In the course of 1 to 4 months you would get the notice if the registration is possible. Depending on the country of application duration may vary, but they generally fall within the same range.
Finally, the second notice about the possibility of registration arrives to our company’s address and the client is required to pay for the registration in the case that it follows the requirements. In case it is not permitted, if it is rejected, the rejection does not necessarily mean that the patent will not be registered. It could mean that there could be remarks on the registration and in this case, in a short period of time, the mistakes are fixed and corrected documents are sent back to the Patent Office. After the payment it takes from 1 to 4 months to receive the letter with the decision on your patent’s registration.
Next the client receives a “live” patent, the documents are registered by the end of the deal.
The approximate end of the registration of an industrial design patent is November 20XX and January 20XX for a trademark. It is an approximate calculation since the period of consideration of applications varies from country to country, depending on where the application is filed.
We are waiting for your messages! Wish you luck!
There is a relevant saying when it comes to registering patents: “If you are not the first one you are the last one”.