Filing in a foreign country is more expensive and time-consuming than filing in Japan, so you should choose the country of application carefully. In short, there are various ways to expand overseas, but in what country should you obtain trademark rights?
There is no absolute answer to this question. However, I believe that the following criteria will serve as a guide when deciding which country to apply to.
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(1) Countries where your company has business offices, local subsidiaries, etc.
Since your company's trademark is already in use, if you infringe on a third party's trademark rights, it will be a big problem for your business.
(2) Major exporting countries
To secure export, you need to file a trademark application as soon as possible.
(3) China
According to Japanese customs statistics from January to September 2013, the country of origin (not the country of origin) of infringing goods whose imports were suspended at the border was 92.1% based on the number of cases, and 81% on a point basis. 3% were from China.
By intellectual property, trademark rights account for 98.6% of cases based on the number of cases and 95.9% based on points, so most counterfeit products are trademark infringement products, and most of them are exported from China. Masu. This trend is not limited to Japan.
Therefore, acquiring trademark rights in China can be an effective means of eliminating counterfeit products internationally.
(4) Countries that do not fall under the category of major exporting countries, but whose export volume is expected to increase in the future
This is to prevent problems that may occur in the future.