Answer The meaning of the term "trademark squatting" has gone through two stages of development. In the first stage, the objects of trademark squatting are basically limited to unregistered trademarks; at this stage, the connotation of trademark squatting has been further expanded, and others' trademarks or well-known trademarks that are already well-known to the public are applied for registration on non-similar goods or services. This behavior also belongs to squatting. Furthermore, it can be considered that the act of applying for registration of other people's innovative designs, design patents, company names and trade names, copyrights and other prior rights as trademarks should also be regarded as trademark squatting. Trademark squatting can be divided into a narrow sense and a broad sense. Trademark squatting in the narrow sense refers to the competitive behavior of registering a trademark before the original trademark owner to obtain economic benefits. In a broad sense, trademark squatting includes the above situations, and also includes the behavior of squatting to register other people's famous company names or other names with a certain reputation in society as one's own trademark with prior rights in order to obtain economic benefits. The behavior of trademark squatting mainly takes the following forms: (1) Preemptive registration of unregistered trademarks. my country’s Trademark Law stipulates that if two or more trademark registration applicants apply for registration of identical or similar trademarks on the same or similar goods, the trademark applied for first will be initially reviewed and announced, and the trademark of the others will be rejected. The application will not be announced. If there is no objection within 3 months of the announcement period or the objection is not established, the registration will be approved. my country's Trademark Law does not grant any exclusive rights to users of unregistered trademarks. When a certain trademark is used without registration, the user has no right to prevent others from using the same goods, services or similar goods or services using the same trademark. Or use a similar trademark or apply for registration first. Only when the user of an unregistered trademark applies for registration on the same day as the non-user, based on the current situation of trademark use and registration application in my country, the applicant who used the trademark first will be taken into consideration so that he can be approved for registration. This scope is limited, it cannot restrict others from applying for registration, and it must not violate the first-to-file principle. The user of an unregistered trademark chooses not to apply for registration of the trademark he uses. This is his right; if he has invested a lot in advertising for the unregistered trademark but has not applied for it, or it is later than others who have used the same or similar goods or services. Applying for trademark registration on the service, but others apply for trademark registration first. This can only show that: 1. Independent decision-making leads to one thing over another; 2. A weak awareness of trademark rights; 3. Sleeping on rights. This certainly does not provide him with legal protection. In countries where the exclusive right to trademark is registered, as long as the business entity has a strong awareness of trademark rights and applies for trademark registration before or at the same time as using the trademark, there will be no preemptive trademark registration. The view that all preemptive registration of trademarks is illegal essentially advocates obtaining the exclusive right to use a trademark, thus fundamentally negating the system of obtaining exclusive rights to a trademark through registration, which is contrary to my country's Trademark Law. Article 31 of my country’s Trademark Law stipulates that applying for trademark registration shall not damage the existing prior rights of others, nor shall it be used to preemptively register a trademark that has been used by others and has certain influence by unfair means. Therefore, it is conditionally confirmed that preemptive registration of a trademark that has been used by others is prohibited by law. While adhering to the registration principle and the first-to-file principle, the law has made reasonable adjustments to the absolute first-to-file principle. It is emphasized that the first application must be based on the principle of good faith, and it is not allowed to steal a trademark that has been used by others and has established a good reputation as one's own trademark to apply for registration, which makes up for the shortcomings of the absolute registration principle and prevents the occurrence of unfair situations in fact. (2) Preemptive registration of registered trademarks The right to register a trademark is a right determined by national law, but is subject to geographical and time restrictions. Territoriality determines that a trademark is protected in one or several specific countries and regions, but cannot be protected in countries or regions other than the country or region where it was registered. This may cause A to register trademark A for goods or services of type B in country C. If A does not register the same application in country D, B may register trademark A or a trademark similar to trademark A in country B. For goods or services of type B or similar to type B, apply for registration in country D or apply for registration before A and obtain approval. Although such behavior of preemptively registering a trademark may seem morally questionable, there is nothing legally wrong with such registration.

In the past, due to the relatively weak trademark awareness of Chinese operators, their trademarks owned in my country and already had a certain or good reputation in some countries and regions were preemptively registered by others in that country or region, resulting in Chinese operators' trademarks in that country or region The original trademark registered in China cannot be used and eventually withdraws from the market of that country or region; or although the trademark continues to be used and occupies the market, a high price is paid to obtain the other party's transfer of trademark ownership; some have to start a new one "stove". I suffered a loss in terms of economic interests, but I was powerless legally. However, with the development of my country's market economy, it has become increasingly common for some domestic enterprises and individuals to rush to register well-known foreign trademarks in China in order to seek economic benefits. (3) Preemptive registration of well-known trademarks Preemptive registration of well-known trademarks is more complicated than preemptive registration of unregistered trademarks or registered non-well-known trademarks. After a well-known trademark is preemptively registered by others in another country or region, whether the original owner's trademark exclusive rights can be protected in that country or region ultimately depends entirely on the competent authority of the country or region where protection is requested based on its own laws. Legal recognition. If it is believed that the preemptive registration by others is legitimate, the original trademark owner will lose the ownership of the trademark within its jurisdiction and cannot be protected; conversely, if it is believed that the registration is unfair, it can obtain protection. (4) Preemptive registration of other prior rights One of the more prominent contradictions currently existing in the protection of intellectual property rights is the conflict of rights. Some subsequent rights holders take advantage of legal gaps to maliciously transfer design patent rights or copyrights that have been obtained by others. Other rights are registered as trademarks. To solve the problem of conflict of rights between different types of intellectual property rights, the current law already has a basic principle, which is the "principle of protection of prior rights." This principle embodies the principles of fairness and good faith in civil law, and has specific provisions in patent law and trademark law. Judging from the provisions of current laws, regulations and rules, the rights and obligations arising from patent rights and trademark rights are subject to different legal adjustments. There is no distinction between who is higher and who is lower, who is stronger and who is weaker. If a conflict of rights occurs, the "principle of protection of prior rights" applies. To sum up, in the face of various forms of trademark squatting, only by clarifying their respective legal natures can we fight them head-on through the existing trademark legal system to safeguard legal dignity and the legitimate interests of the parties. Trademark squatting