Then, what kind of protection can you enjoy after the name of a film and television work is successfully registered as a trademark name?
Prevent "parasitic marketing of film and television"
I believe that the term "parasitic marketing of film and television" is familiar to everyone. The dispute between Mermaid and Goodbye Mermaid, and the dispute over the title of "I only need one you with the world" all exposed the problem of "film and television parasitic marketing" caused by the poor protection of the names of film and television works.
If the copyright owner has registered the trademark "I am the only you in the world" on the 09th category "downloadable video files" and other commodities in advance, then others can no longer use the same or similar movie names. Article 76 of the Regulations for the Implementation of the Trademark Law stipulates:
On the same kind of goods or similar goods, using marks identical with or similar to other people's registered trademarks as commodity names or commodity decorations, misleading the public, is an act of infringing the exclusive right to use a registered trademark as stipulated in the second paragraph of Article 57 of the Trademark Law.
According to the provisions of this law, misleading the public with the name of a movie that has been registered as a trademark by others will infringe on the exclusive right to use a registered trademark. Although the protection of the names of film and television works in the industry is generally weak, there are also some examples that pay attention to IP protection and do well in this respect. For example, last summer's hit "Love O2O".
Protect the IP of film and television peripheral products.
With the popularity of film and television IP in recent years, it is very common to apply for the registration of trademarks of various goods and services by using the names of film and television works. For example:
The Big Bang Theory was registered in three categories by a company in Qingdao, Shandong Province, including backpacks, wallets, clothing, scarves, advertisements and other goods and services.
Game of Thrones was registered in 09 categories of "computer game software, electronic game cards" and other commodities by a technology company in Shenzhen.
"Hua" has been registered by different market entities, and its products and services include snacks, lamps, cosmetics, computer software design, courtyard landscape layout and so on. * * * Covers more than 20 categories.
The above is a screenshot of some information pages of the trademarkNo. 1827 1262. The trademark was successfully registered in the third category of "cosmetics, facial cleanser, beauty mask" and other commodities, and the registrant was a pharmaceutical company in Guangdong.
The trademark registrant in the above example is not the copyright party of film and television drama (that is, the producer in the general sense), but other market entities. After some companies or individuals know the name of a film and television work because of its popularity, they apply for registration as a trademark name, thus enjoying the exclusive right to use the trademark of the film and television work in a specific commodity or service. This leads to: if the copyright owner wants to make peripheral products of film and television (such as cultural shirts, pillows, mobile games, etc.). ) and use the names of film and television dramas as trademarks on related goods, which not only fails to obtain the exclusive right to use trademarks, but also may infringe on the trademark rights of others.
Take "Hua" for example. If the trademark "Hua" has been successfully registered in Class 09 goods and services such as "computer game software", "downloadable mobile phone application software" and "providing online games on the computer network" and Class 4 1, then the copyright owner can no longer use "Hua" as the trademark of online games and mobile games, and if it is used as the game name, it will also be used.
In view of the difficulty in protecting the names of film and television works, it is difficult to protect the exclusive right to use a trademark through other prior rights after being registered as a trademark. Therefore, only register in advance and take precautions early.
What kind of film and television works can be registered as trademarks?
It is so common that the names of film and television dramas are registered as trademarks. Can all the names of film and television works apply for registered trademarks? Of course not. If the name of a film and television work wants to apply for a registered trademark, it must meet the basic requirements and provisions of the Trademark Law on trademarks.
Article 9 of the Trademark Law: A trademark applied for registration shall have distinctive features and be easy to identify, and shall not conflict with the legal rights previously obtained by others.
According to the above-mentioned laws, if the name of a film and television work wants to apply for registration as a trademark name, it must have distinctive features, that is, distinctiveness. "Meaning" is the most basic requirement. So, what is the meaning? Generally speaking, it's unusual, different from others. Such as "to the sky kingdom" and "Why Shengxiao Mo".
The "distinctiveness" required by a registered trademark can only be distinguished from the source of other goods or services, and its originality requirements for the trademark name itself are not as high as those for the identification of works in copyright. Many words that already exist in Chinese, such as "Qingfeng", can also apply for registration as trademark names. However, due to the great possibility of such characters being registered as trademarks, it is difficult to apply for registered trademarks if the names of film and television dramas are such existing characters.
For example, the title of hero directed by Zhang Yimou cannot be successfully registered. The reason is:
1. "Hero" is an original word in Chinese, and its meaning is relatively weak.
2. The movie belongs to the "downloadable video file" of 090 1 group, in which "hero" has been registered.
3. As a trademark name, "hero" also exists widely in other categories, and it is difficult to protect movie names in these categories.
In addition to the requirement of distinctiveness, the Trademark Law also stipulates the circumstances in which the use of trademarks is prohibited. In practice, many trademarks are rejected for their deceptive or adverse effects, so attention should be paid to avoiding such risks when applying for film and television titles. Take the recently popular in the name of people as an example, it is difficult to successfully register the name of this work as a trademark. "Person" is a political concept, and "name" is a name or title used as a basis. The use of such a grand and abstract concept as "in the name of people" as a trademark name is very likely to be rejected by the Trademark Office with Item (7) or Item (8) of Paragraph 1 of Article 10 of the Trademark Law.
Name of trademark applicant
If the copyright owner is a company, you can apply for registration directly in the name of the company. For example, the producer of "Love O2O" is Shanghai Juku Culture Communication Co., Ltd., and when applying for a registered trademark, it directly applies for registration in the name of "Shanghai Juku Culture Communication Co., Ltd." (see the name column of the applicant in the screenshot 1 for details). Pay special attention to TV series adapted from novels, such as Love O2O. Before applying for a registered trademark, it is best to get the author's consent to avoid subsequent disputes.
If the film and television drama is jointly produced by several companies, you can designate a copyright owner as the trademark applicant or file an application for * * *.
Article 5 of the Trademark Law: Two or more natural persons, legal persons or other organizations may apply to the Trademark Office for registration of the same trademark and jointly enjoy and exercise the exclusive right to use the trademark.
According to the provisions of this law, the copyright owners of jointly produced film and television dramas may apply for trademark registration at the same time. However, if there are a large number of copyright owners (for example, in the name of copyright owners), there will be various complicated procedures (such as signatures of all parties, authorization statements, etc.) in other subsequent procedures (such as transfer and authorization). From the point of view of efficiency, it is suggested to appoint a copyright owner as a trademark applicant.
In addition, according to Article 16 of the Regulations for the Implementation of the Trademark Law, "* * * shall designate a representative when applying for registration of the same trademark; If there is no designated representative, the person with the first order in the application is the representative. " Even if you apply together, you need to appoint a representative.
Registration category, fee and time
If you just want to prevent the film and television parasitic marketing of your peers, you only need to apply for registration in the categories related to the film industry (namely category 9 and category 4 1). If you plan to launch video peripheral products, such as notebooks, cultural shirts, pillows, etc. , or online games, mobile games, etc. , you need to apply for registration in other corresponding categories. Of course, if you want more comprehensive protection, you can apply for all kinds of registration.
As for the fees, if you apply for all kinds of registration, that is, you apply for registration of one trademark in 45 kinds, the total fee is about 60 thousand. It takes about 1 1 month from the submission of the application for registration to the issuance of a notice of rejection or a preliminary announcement by the Trademark Office. If you can successfully register, it will take about one and a half years from the date of application to getting the registration certificate.
Considering the initial inquiry and the time required to apply for trademark registration, if you are interested in registering the name of a film and television drama as a trademark, the relevant operations can even start earlier when the project is established.
Trademark authorization and distribution of rights protection income
After successful trademark registration, if you want to authorize others to produce peripheral products, you can sign a trademark license contract and grant others the right to use it. The resulting authorization income and the rights protection income of cracking down on infringing products and maintaining the exclusive right to use trademarks in the later period can be included in the unified distribution of the total income of film and television dramas.
In addition, the defenders of trademark infringement (that is, who is responsible for solving the problem of trademark infringement of others) can also make a clear agreement in the relevant contract. The related interests of trademarks are also part of the interests that all copyright owners can obtain. As the owner of copyright, even small-scale film and television companies can't easily give up related interests. If you are involved in large-scale film and television projects, and the benefits that small film and television companies can share are limited, then you can also try to win more benefits in terms of trademarks.
Comprehensive protection of the names of film and television works
In addition to applying for registered trademarks, the names of designed film and television works can also be used as works of art for copyright protection. As we all know, the names of works presented by simple and common fonts are difficult to form works of art, but creatively designed words are another matter, such as the font of the movie Mermaid.
At present, the posters of film and television dramas in the industry basically have special designs on the names of their works. Therefore, in addition to registering trademarks, you can also apply for the fixed rights of art works in copyright registration, thus giving more comprehensive and diverse protection to the names of film and television works.
Article source: Shiyu Xincheng Intellectual Property