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Article 43, Paragraph 1, of my country’s Trademark Law stipulates: “A trademark registrant may authorize others to use its registered trademark by signing a trademark license contract. The licensor shall supervise the licensee’s use of its registered trademark. The licensee shall ensure the quality of the goods using the registered trademark. ”

1. The licensor has the obligation to supervise the quality of the licensee’s goods

First of all, Trademark owners should ensure the quality of their goods or services. Identifying the source of goods or services, ensuring quality and advertising are the three major functions of traditional trademarks. When a trademark is licensed to others, the goods or services using the same trademark have different sources, and the function of the trademark to identify the source of the goods or services is weakened. If the goods or services provided by a certain licensee are of low quality, Then consumers purchase the product based on their trust in the trademark, and their rights and interests will be infringed. In order to protect the rights and interests of consumers, the Trademark Law stipulates that the trademark licensor shall supervise the quality of the licensee's goods. Therefore, it is the legal obligation of the trademark licensor to supervise the quality of the licensee's goods.

Secondly, the trademark licensor should supervise the licensee’s product quality to meet the agreed standards. It is generally believed that product quality means that the safety and usability of the product should comply with national or industry standards. However, "commodity quality" in the Trademark Law should be understood in a broad sense, and it should not only comply with statutory conditions but also comply with agreed conditions. Because national or industry standards are the most basic requirements for product quality, but the quality of goods or services provided by different goods or service providers varies. Consumers choose a specific trademark because the trademark can guarantee that it represents The goods or services must meet certain standards, so the trademark licensor should ensure that the goods or services provided by the licensee meet the specific standards, including the specifications and ingredients of the goods, etc. should meet the agreed conditions.

2. The trademark licensor shall bear joint and several liability for the licensee’s trademark infringement

Although the Trademark Law stipulates that the trademark licensor shall supervise the licensee’s use of the goods with its registered trademark Quality, but does not clearly stipulate the liability that the trademark licensor should bear if it fails to perform its supervision obligations. In the case where a registered trademark licensee constitutes trademark infringement, if the civil liability of the registered trademark licensor is completely denied, it will obviously be detrimental to the protection of the exclusive rights of other previously registered trademark rights holders to their registered trademarks.

First of all, although the prior trademark right holder can refuse registration based on the existence of relative reasons, that is, Article 30 of the Trademark Law stipulates that "it is prohibited to register a trademark registered by others on the same or similar goods or "A trademark that is identical or similar to a trademark that has been preliminarily approved", apply to the Trademark Office or the Trademark Review and Adjudication Board to declare the registered trademark invalid. However, since the declaration of invalidity has no retroactive effect on the trademark transfer or license contract that has been performed, the trademark owner will suffer losses. It's hard to recover.

Secondly, if the trademark licensor is not held accountable, the trademark licensor can avoid liability for trademark infringement through licensing. For example, you can register a trademark that is the same as or similar to a previously registered trademark in different product categories, and then license the trademark to others. On the one hand, the trademark licensee can obtain benefits by free riding; on the other hand, if the trademark If the licensee uses the trademark beyond the scope of the license, the trademark licensor can also avoid liability for trademark infringement. In this case, if the licensee is unable to bear the liability for trademark infringement and cannot pursue the liability of the trademark licensor, it will not only damage the rights and interests of consumers, but also go against the protection of the rights of the exclusive trademark owner.

Third, for the trademark licensor, in order to ensure the quality of the goods, he should supervise and control the quality of the licensee's goods and production and business activities. In this sense, the trademark licensor is quite to actual commodity producers and operators.

The 2002 "Reply of the Supreme People's Court on whether victims of product infringement cases can file civil lawsuits against the trademark owners of the products as defendants" pointed out: Anyone who embodies his or her name, title, trademark or other identifiable mark on a product , indicating that any enterprise or individual that is a product manufacturer is a “product manufacturer” stipulated in the General Principles of the Civil Law and a “producer” stipulated in the Product Quality Law. In addition, under the premise that the trademark licensor effectively supervises the quality of the licensee's goods, even if the trademark licensor itself does not actually use the trademark, the licensee's use of the trademark can be regarded as the trademark licensor's own use. Therefore, if the licensee infringes the trademark rights and the trademark licensor fails to perform its supervisory duties, he shall bear joint and several liability.

If more detailed information can be provided, more accurate legal advice can be provided.