To answer this question, I think we must first understand what a well-known trademark in China is.

1. What is a well-known trademark in China?

The "Regulations on the Recognition and Protection of Well-known Trademarks" promulgated by the State Administration for Industry and Commerce on April 17, 2003 clearly states: Well-known trademarks refer to trademarks that are widely known to the relevant public in China and enjoy a high reputation.

As for what is "relevant public", the "Regulations on the Recognition and Protection of Well-known Trademarks" stipulates that: the relevant public includes consumers related to a certain type of goods P` services marked by the use of trademarks, and the production of the aforementioned Other operators who provide goods or services, as well as sellers and related personnel involved in distribution channels.

As for what is meant by "widely known" and "enjoying a high reputation", the "Provisions on the Recognition and Protection of Well-Known Trademarks" does not clearly define it.

Precisely because relevant laws and regulations do not clearly define the concepts of "widely known" and "enjoying a high reputation", companies must provide a large amount of relevant information when applying to identify a trademark as a well-known trademark in China. Materials are used as evidence to prove that a trademark is well-known, so as to obtain legal recognition from the national industrial and commercial administration department or judicial authorities.

Obviously, China's well-known trademarks are based on the "Trademark Law of the People's Republic of China" and the "Trademark Law Implementation Rules" formulated in accordance with this law and the "Well-known Trademark Recognition and Protection Regulations" of the State Administration for Industry and Commerce. identified. It is a legal concept and a means of legal protection, not just an honor assessed by civil society or relevant industry management departments and awarded to enterprises. Its creation requires strict legal procedures.

So, what kind of benefits can a certain trademark get after it is recognized as a well-known trademark in China?

2. China’s well-known trademarks can be protected by domestic laws

A well-known trademark is a kind of intangible wealth. Whoever owns a well-known trademark is equivalent to mastering the Midas touch.

According to the provisions of the Trademark Law of the People's Republic of China, the purpose of identifying China's well-known trademarks is to resolve conflicts of trademark rights and protect the legitimate rights and interests of well-known trademark owners. After being recognized, Chinese trademarks can enjoy the rights of well-known trademarks stipulated in the Trademark Law of the People's Republic of China.

After a well-known trademark is confirmed, it can receive greater protection than an ordinary trademark. The identification of well-known trademarks is a legal protection method for resolving trademark infringement disputes. It adopts the principles of "case-by-case identification" and passive protection. If a product that has obtained a well-known trademark encounters an infringement dispute, the well-known trademark can be regarded as a protected record and submitted to the Trademark Office of the State Administration for Industry and Commerce for arbitration.

Article 13 of the "Trademark Law of the People's Republic of China" stipulates: A trademark applied for registration on the same or similar goods is a copy, imitation or translation of someone else's well-known trademark that has not been registered in China, which may easily lead to confusion. , will not be registered and prohibited from use.

If the trademark applied for registration for different or dissimilar goods is a copy, imitation or translation of a well-known trademark that has been registered in China by others, misleading the public, and causing the interests of the registrant of the well-known trademark to be potentially harmed, Registration is not allowed and use is prohibited.

Article 41, Paragraph 2, of the Trademark Law of the People's Republic of China stipulates: When the owner of a well-known trademark that has been registered in bad faith requests the Trademark Review and Adjudication Board to rule on canceling the registered trademark that has caused losses to him, Not subject to the five-year time limit in this paragraph.

Article 13 of the "Regulations on the Recognition and Protection of Well-known Trademarks" of the State Administration for Industry and Commerce stipulates: If the party believes that others have registered its well-known trademark as a business name, which may deceive the public or cause misunderstanding to the public, it may register with the business name If the competent authority applies to cancel the registration of the enterprise name, the competent authority for enterprise name registration shall handle the matter in accordance with the "Regulations on the Administration of Enterprise Name Registration".

Article 14 of the "Regulations on the Identification and Protection of Well-known Trademarks" of the State Administration for Industry and Commerce stipulates: Industrial and commercial administrative departments at all levels should strengthen the protection of well-known trademarks, and cases suspected of counterfeiting trademark crimes should be promptly transferred to the relevant departments .

The meaning of these legal provisions is:

1. In addition to the exclusive rights to trademarks arising from trademark registration in accordance with the law, trademarks that are recognized as well-known trademarks in China also have The right to prohibit others from registering or using its well-known trademarks on a certain range of non-similar trademarks.

2. If it has strong distinctiveness and high popularity, a trademark that is recognized as a well-known Chinese trademark has the right to prohibit others from using it as part of a company name.

3. When determining infringement, if the plaintiff is the owner of a well-known trademark, it is very likely that the administrative law enforcement or judicial authorities will determine that the defendant is similar to its trademark.

4. With the vigorous development of the Internet, the protection of well-known trademarks has been extended to this virtual space corresponding to reality. In other words, the power of well-known trademarks has been extended to the Internet field, that is, it is absolutely prohibited for others to maliciously seize the domain name rights of well-known trademarks, register them, and use domain names that are the same or similar to others' well-known trademarks.

Specifically speaking, applying for a well-known trademark has the following benefits for trademark protection:

1. Fight against malicious registration;

2. Fight against the identity of different products. The impact of (similar) trademarks;

3. It is easier to identify similar trademarks;

4. When filing and investigating criminal cases of counterfeit trademarks, there is no limit on the amount of the case;

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5. Prevent other companies from registering company names with well-known trademarks;

6. Avoid domain name registration problems in e-commerce.

3. China’s well-known trademarks can be protected by foreign laws

Article 6-bis of the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Rights signed in 1883 stipulates that: any member country of the Convention, in its own country Subject to the conditions permitted by law, if the competent authorities of other member states believe that a trademark in that country has become a well-known trademark, they are obliged to protect it.

Starting from the Paris Convention in 1883 to the current TRIPS Agreement, many international treaties have provided legal protection for well-known trademarks, and this protection has been provided to well-known trademarks in the form of special legal provisions. Trademarks are protected.

Monopoly rights that transcend geographical scope, this refers to the exclusive rights of well-known trademarks. It is not a trademark exclusive right in the general legal sense, but transcends the scope of the country and is used in countries around the world (at least nearly 200 Paris Convention member states) have to protect the monopoly rights. That is to say, when a trademark has been recognized as a well-known trademark by the trademark authority in the country of registration or use, if another trademark constitutes an imitation of the well-known trademark and is used on the same or similar goods, it should be rejected. or cancel its registration and prohibit its use.

These provisions also apply to trademarks whose main part is counterfeit, counterfeit or imitates another well-known trademark that is likely to cause confusion. This can be called "relative protectionism" and has been adopted by various countries in the civil law system. Many countries with common law systems adopt "absolute protectionism", that is, the owner of a well-known trademark not only has the right to prohibit anyone else from using its well-known trademark on similar or similar goods, but also has the right to prohibit the use of its well-known trademark on all other goods. Its well-known trademark.

With my country's accession to the WTO and the progress of international intellectual property protection cooperation, the recognition of China's well-known trademarks has also been recognized by the trademark authorities and judicial authorities of other countries, making China's well-known trademarks more important in solving international disputes. Played an important role in the process of trademark rights disputes.

4. China’s well-known trademarks are the representative of corporate image

China’s well-known trademarks are the economic business card of an enterprise, a city, or even a region.

A well-known trademark is not only an intellectual achievement, but also a symbol of corporate culture. It is a representative of the glorious image of the company. Practice has proved that the higher the reputation of a trademark, the higher its gold content. A well-known trademark can not only double the value of designated goods, but also benefit other products of the company, improve the company's external attractiveness, and then double the overall value of the company.

The ownership of well-known trademarks is a yardstick for measuring the degree of economic development of a region. Whoever owns more well-known trademarks means that he has huge financial resources.

Several coastal provinces such as Guangdong, Zhejiang, Shandong, Jiangsu, and Fujian have some of the highest numbers of well-known Chinese trademarks in the country due to their developed economies.

In today's increasingly fierce market competition, the role of well-known trademarks is increasing day by day. For consumers, well-known trademarks mean excellent product quality and high corporate reputation; for well-known trademark owners, well-known trademarks are valuable wealth, which means extensive market share and extraordinary entrepreneurial ability. In modern society, consumers' demand for goods no longer only focuses on quality and appearance, but also on taste and fashion, which represent a certain identity and status. Therefore, as science and technology become increasingly developed, knowledge and information continue to expand, and living standards continue to improve, trademarks themselves contain huge intangible assets and are indispensable and valuable assets for enterprises.

A well-known trademark can convey to buyers a large amount of information about the goods or services it represents: excellent quality, long-term stability of quality, adaptability to buyers’ consumption habits and psychological enjoyment. Satisfaction and so on. This information that has been tested by the market for a long time not only simplifies the buying behavior of buyers, but also simplifies the selling behavior of sellers. In other words, buyers do not need to understand the above-mentioned information one by one when purchasing, but only need to identify the trademark. This is the so-called "purchasing with a brand" based on trust; sellers do not need to be tired of it. Instead of promoting the above information in detail, you only need to repeat your trademark through advertising and other media during the sales process.

Therefore, it can be said that well-known trademarks have become a stable link between successive buyers and sellers.

5. The difference between China’s well-known trademarks and famous brands

Any company should realize that famous brand products are the basis for the formation of well-known trademarks, and the recognition of well-known trademarks is the legal expansion of famous brand products. The only way to protect.

A well-known trademark must be a famous brand, but a famous brand is not necessarily a well-known trademark. Famous brands and well-known trademarks are not exactly the same.

Famous brands can be produced through various forms and levels of selection and evaluation and are recognized by the majority of the public in the relevant scope or in a certain region (of course, the selection mentioned here refers to the selection based on public opinions. based on the selection), it can also be eliminated by another selection or selection organized by another organizer and will not be protected by national laws. The holders of the eliminated "famous brands" usually only promote the results of the last selection in advertisements. Just imagine, if there are too many similar selections and reviews in society, then the positive effects of the selections will be completely lost, and the final result will be that ordinary companies can only produce a few or even dozens of "famous brand identity certificates" , which will provide a high-sounding breeding ground for unfair competition and corruption by certain enterprises.

A recognized well-known trademark must reach the level of a famous brand. Special protection for well-known trademarks is usually a legal and international protection, while the current selection and evaluation of famous brands by system, industry or product category is generally only conducted domestically.

Article organizer Yu Shenghong QQ: 10405258 Tel: 13801100734

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