A few days ago, Didi Taxi's trademark infringement incident caused a stir, once again bringing trademark infringement and rights protection to the forefront. In the past, Apple and Shenzhen Proview, Wong Lo Kat and Jiaduobao, and the ‘Deluxe’ trademark infringement incidents occurred one after another. So, facing the current market status, how should we arm ourselves with the basic common sense of trademark law and protect our legitimate rights and interests? In this regard, Beijing Zhongxiruan, as a domestic intellectual property value-added service provider, believes that the trademark infringement incident of Didi Taxi has once again sounded the alarm for various companies, and it has become a top priority to enhance their awareness of trademark rights protection.

Based on the current situation that enterprises have little awareness of protecting their own intellectual property rights, Mr. Kong Junmin, President of Beijing Zhongxiruan Group, explained in detail the importance of trademark rights protection for enterprises and the serious consequences of trademark infringement.

A trademark is an indication of goods, a mark used by producers and operators of goods to distinguish the goods they produce or operate from those produced or operated by other commodity producers or operators. Zhongxiruan Group reminds that the trademark used by an enterprise must be registered in accordance with legal procedures. If the trademark is not registered, the trademark user does not have exclusive rights to the trademark. In this way, trademarks cannot play a role in indicating the source of the goods, and will also confuse consumers' understanding of the goods. There is also a serious disadvantage of unregistered trademarks. Once someone else registers the trademark first and enjoys the exclusive right to the trademark, the first user of the trademark can no longer use the trademark. According to my country's Trademark Law, the original right to use a trademark can only be obtained through trademark registration, and when applying for trademark registration, the first-to-file principle is adopted. In principle, for an unregistered trademark, whoever applies for registration first will be granted the exclusive right to the trademark. Beijing Zhongxiruan Group believes that another fatal consequence of unregistered trademarks is that unregistered trademarks may be identical or similar to registered trademarks on the same or similar goods, resulting in infringement. Once an infringement occurs, the infringer shall bear the legal consequences of the infringement. Therefore, using an unregistered trademark may infringe the exclusive rights of others to register a trademark. For example, in the Didi Taxi trademark infringement incident, Hangzhou Miaoying Microelectronics Company sued Didi Taxi on the grounds of trademark infringement and claimed 80 million yuan.

Mr. Kong Junmin said that there are many cases similar to Didi Taxi’s trademark infringement incident. Nowadays, many businesses do not pay attention to intellectual property rights and trademarks, and do not go to the relevant departments to go through the trademark registration procedures, which leads to the infringement of trademarks in enterprises. In the process of development and growth, a series of intellectual property disputes have arisen. In order to nip problems in the bud and prevent the recurrence of intellectual property disputes and trademark infringement cases, enterprises must strengthen their awareness of intellectual property protection and comprehensively popularize the basic common sense of trademark rights protection.

In terms of how to strengthen intellectual property protection, Gao Dekang, president of Bosideng, a well-known person in the industry, believes: First, government departments should strengthen supervision and attach great importance to relevant intellectual property rights, and law enforcement departments should increase the enforcement of intellectual property infringements. The intensity of penalties will be reduced to reduce disputes in the hearing of intellectual property cases in courts at all levels. Secondly, enterprises must strengthen their awareness of intellectual property protection, study and study the Trademark Law and other relevant laws, arm themselves with legal weapons, protect their own legitimate intellectual property rights at all times, and prevent infringement of the legitimate intellectual property rights of others.

In order to prevent similar incidents of trademark infringement of Didi Taxi from happening again, Mr. Kong Junmin of Beijing Zhongxiruan Group emphasized that trademarks, as intangible assets of enterprises, play a vital role in daily operations, so they must received strong attention. Registering a trademark in accordance with legal procedures can not only protect the long-term development of the brand you operate, increase visibility and reputation, but also effectively prevent your own legitimate rights and interests from being infringed, and protect your own economic interests through legal means. It is urgent to enhance enterprises’ awareness of trademark rights protection.