Do I need to register a foreign trademark to run an independent website? What are the reasons for trademark rejection?

Nowadays, more and more merchants are running independent cross-border e-commerce. Because it is a cross-border e-commerce platform, the products are basically from abroad. If you run an independent website, do you need to register a foreign trademark? The following content will introduce it.

Do I need to register a foreign trademark to build an independent website?

Yes. A trademark is a legal way to obtain exclusive rights.

You need to determine the category of the registered trademark to see if the English trademark can be registered before considering further application.

To enter the US e-commerce platform, you must first register a US trademark to protect your own brand. During the US trademark application process, many companies will receive rejection notices for trademark applications. So what are the reasons for trademark rejections?

1. Irregular trademark information

If the trademark applicant is not familiar with the application process of the US trademark and the details that should be paid attention to, and has not entrusted a professional trademark agency to apply for the trademark, sellers may receive a trademark rejection notice from the examiner due to non-standard submission of trademark information. The examiner will also recommend that the trademark applicant entrust a professional trademark agency to handle it on their behalf. This type of review opinion reply can basically be passed.

2. The trademark description information is not standardized

Because the US government requires accurate and detailed descriptions of trademark information, and each trademark has a unique design concept. In the application materials, some sellers did not seek professional agencies to handle it, and filled in the trademark descriptive information in an irregular manner and were rejected. This type of trademark rejection can basically pass.

3. Evidence of Trademark Fraud

The United States is a country that follows the principle of first use of trademarks, and many sellers will apply for trademarks before their products are launched on the market, and forge evidence of trademark use. When the U.S. Trademark Office examines trademarks, it will doubt the authenticity of the evidence of use, and it is common for forged evidence of use to be rejected. In this case, if a trademark rejection notice is issued, you can resubmit real evidence of use.

4. Trademark application rejected due to unclear drawings

If the trademark application is rejected due to unclear drawings, you can directly contact a professional agency to resubmit the trademark application drawings. In this case, the application will basically be approved.

5. Trademark Similarity Refusal

If a trademark is rejected due to similarity, a professional American lawyer needs to judge the difficulty of the trademark reply based on the specific circumstances of the trademark similarity. Therefore, the search and screening in the early stage of the US trademark application is extremely important. Trademark search can avoid most of the trademark similarity problems. This type of trademark rejection needs to be analyzed specifically according to the specific circumstances.

There are many operating models for independent sites, which are suitable for sellers at different stages. In the early stage when there is a lack of supply chain support, you can use the drop shipping model to accumulate experience, and then slowly expand with supply chain support.

For independent merchants, some products need to be registered trademarks, and only after the trademark is registered can they be successfully uploaded. If independent merchants want to open a store, they still need to learn about the relevant information.

Recommended reading:

How to open an independent cross-border e-commerce website? How to promote an independent website?

What products are good for independent sites? Detailed introduction

Can independent sites check logistics information? What is the method?