Conflict between trademark rights and business name

Trademark rights and business name rights are two different legal concepts. In our country, trademark rights refer to the rights that trademark owners have to possess, use, profit from, and dispose of their registered trademarks in accordance with the law. Enterprise name rights refer to the exclusive rights that an approved and registered enterprise enjoys over its enterprise name within the approved and registered area.

The conflicts between corporate name rights and trademark rights mainly include: 1. Register words that are the same as or similar to other people’s business names as trademarks, causing the relevant public to misunderstand or misunderstand the owner of the business name and the person who registered the trademark 2. Register words that are the same as or similar to others’ registered trademarks as a trademark The font size in the name causes the relevant public to misunderstand or misunderstand the trademark registrant and the owner of the business name. This leads to confusion between registered trademarks and business names, causing a conflict between the state's protection of trademark (exclusive) rights and the protection of business name rights.

The State Administration for Industry and Commerce issued the "Opinions on Solving Certain Issues in Trademarks and Business Names" in 1999. The "Opinions" stipulated that when handling cases of confusion between trademarks and business names, the following conditions should be met:

(1) The trademark and the company name are confused and damage the legitimate rights and interests of the prior rights holder;

(2) The trademark has been registered and the company name has been registered;

< p>(3) Make a request within 5 years from the date of trademark registration or company name registration (including requests that have been made but have not yet been processed), but this restriction does not apply to malicious registration or malicious registration.

If a trademark registrant or business name owner who meets the above conditions believes that his or her rights and interests have been harmed, he or she may file a written complaint to the State Administration for Industry and Commerce or the provincial Administration for Industry and Commerce to protect himself or herself. legitimate rights and interests.