Many businesses are hesitant to register a trademark with Chinese characters and logos. The reason behind this is that brand owners fear that they will be victims of trademark squatting when they eventually expand their business in China. But if you look at the current situation of some bigger foreign brands, they have difficulty penetrating the Chinese market because the Chinese translation of their trademark had already been taken.
Take the famous French fashion brand Hermès for example. They were a bit too late in registering their trademark in Chinese as 爱玛仕 because there was already an existing Chinese brand, 爱马仕, that used almost similar characters. That is why registering you trademark primarily in Chinese characters would prove to be more beneficial. Even if you register your trademark with Latin characters, it is crucial that you make sure it is also registered in Chinese.
Potential issues faced for registering TM for Chinese characters
Because Singapore is relatively small compared to China, geographically speaking, the enforcement of intellectual property rights goes much smoother and easier. But when a business decides to expand beyond Singapore soil, there can be many complications. Brand owners may find that trademark squatters have already registered the Chinese translations of their trademarks. Hence it is important to have your chinese characters TM registered in Singapore first as soon as you can. And if you do need a specialized logo with characters, we can come up with beautiful designs for you too.
A lot of issues in registering a trademark with Chinese characters tie in with the Chinese market itself. For one, if you are looking for trade opportunities in China, you might be forbidden to use your own trademark if someone already used the Chinese translation.
Another issues brand owners can face is that of different pronunciations and Chinese dialects. The pronunciations used in different regions in China also affect the translation of the brand name. Many trademark squatters also use these distinctive differences as an opportunity to make different versions that they can use.
Highly Successful Process for Registering Chinese marks in Singapore
With Brand Mark’s trademark service, you can be assured that your trademark will be able to push through with your Chinese business just like many other businesses. We use quite a simple, but
First, and probably the most important, is the trademark search on the TM registry. We will check if your trademark has any similar ones that are already registered in Singapore. The chances of getting a mark successfully registered greatly increases when there isn't an existing mark found in the trademark class you are appliny for.
Secondly, we will work closely with you on the whole registration process. Together, we will plan on your trademark being in Latin characters, its direct Mandarin Chinese translation, the logo, and every similar Chinese word you can use. We take all this into consideration because they may function as measures to prevent others from using anything similar to your proposed Chinese mark.
As simple as it sounds, it takes a lot of effort and work and you certainly can’t do it on your own. And that is why we are always ready to lend a helping hand.