Trademark rights are unique and distinctive, that is, a trademark registered in China is likely to be rejected. According to statistics, during the formal review stage after data submission for Chinese trademark registration, the rejection rate is over 40%, and then only about 11%. Therefore, it is necessary to change your trademark into a unique trademark through trademark duplication checking, similarity checking, etc. So: If a trademark is rejected for adverse impact, how should we understand this “adverse impact”? The following will give you the answer:

In recent years, trademarks have received more and more attention, and the number of applications has increased year by year. The number of trademark applications in 2017 reached 5.9 million, and in the first half of 2018 alone, the number reached 3.586 million. However, the probability of trademark rejection is getting higher and higher. Today we will talk about one of the prohibited clauses for trademark rejection: adverse effects.

Adverse effects are stipulated in Article 10, Paragraph 1 (8) of the Trademark Law, that is, signs that are “harmful to socialist morals or have other adverse effects” shall not be used as trademarks. The "socialist morals" in this article refer to the norms and norms of the common life and behavior of the people of our country, as well as the good customs and habits popular in society within a certain period; "other adverse effects" refers to the trademark's Text, graphics or other elements have a negative impact on my country's political, economic, cultural, religious, ethnic and other social public interests and public order.

Literally, the "adverse impact" clause has a clear meaning and is easy to understand. However, there are a lot of differences and controversies in its specific application.

What is the difference between the application of adverse effects and the confusion and misidentification clause?

(1) The difference between the two is that adverse effects protect the interests of the public, and the prerequisite for application is damage to public interests; confusion and misunderstanding are based on the damage to specific civil subjects. Damage that is not related to the public interest should be adjusted by the relative prohibition clause in the trademark law (such as infringement of prior rights).

For example, in the "Jordan" trademark case, the Supreme People's Court pointed out that the famous American basketball player Michael Jeffrey Jordan is a well-known public figure in our country, and "Jordan" has been associated with Michael · A stable correspondence formed between Jeffrey Jordan. The disputed trademark "Jordan" is used on related types of goods. The relevant public may easily mistakenly believe that the goods marked with the disputed trademark have specific connections with the famous basketball player Michael Jeffrey Jordan, such as endorsement and licensing, thus doubting the source of the goods. Or quality creates misperceptions and is deceptive. The court made this determination because the registration of the disputed trademark only involves the issue of whether it damages Jordan's civil rights and interests. It belongs to specific civil rights and does not involve social public interests or public order, so it should not be To apply the "adverse effects" provisions of Article 10, Paragraph 1, Item (8) of the Trademark Law, it is more appropriate to consider it from the perspective of confusion and misunderstanding. That is to say, the determination of whether a trademark has adverse effects should be based on the entire public, not on specific individuals or groups.

However, if an actor preemptively registers a large number of other people's trademarks, although this behavior damages the "private interests" of the right holder, it actually undermines the order of trademark registration, and it is also possible to use " Adverse effects" clause was rejected. For example, on June 27, 2018, a company that had been established just over a month ago applied for 5,060 trademarks in one day. One month later, on July 27, it applied for another 5,753 trademarks. It is difficult to believe that such a large number of registered trademarks have the intention of actual use. Although it does not directly harm the public welfare from a legal perspective, the large number of registrations by the perpetrators actually undermines the order of trademark registration management. The author is inclined to reject it as it may be deemed to have "adverse effects". Otherwise, it will be a waste of legal resources. A huge waste.

(2) The judgment of rejecting the adverse impact of a trademark may vary depending on the subject or the generalized meaning. If the religious idol "Guanyin" or the folk belief "Mazu" is registered as a trademark, it can be judged to have adverse effects and be rejected.

However, as long as the interests of other religious activity venues are not harmed, if religious groups and religious enterprises authorized by them apply for registration of their own religious activity venue names as trademarks, they are usually not deemed to have adverse effects.

(3) Due to various historical reasons, although some signs are related to religion or folk beliefs, the meaning related to religion has been generalized and will not cause the public to associate them with specific religions or folk beliefs. are generally not considered to have adverse effects.

Of course, there are also some situations that have nothing to do with the use or management of trademarks, that is, they will not actually disrupt the order of market competition or trademark management, but they are rejected due to adverse effects for other reasons. If a trademark contains irregular Chinese characters or is an irregular use of idioms, it may easily mislead the public, especially minors. If it is allowed to be used in large quantities, it will change people's understanding of correct Chinese characters and idioms over time, which is obviously not conducive to the popularization of Chinese language and culture and the basic education of young people, and will have far-reaching "adverse effects."

As trademark applications become more and more difficult, many people are racking their brains to successfully register their trademarks. However, if they innovate too hard and blindly pursue novelty and eye-catching, it will easily lead to adverse effects. Regarding the terms, you should still think twice before applying for a trademark.

The above is about the rejection of trademark adverse effects. How to understand this "adverse impact"? Answer: Should partial rejection of a trademark be ignored? What are the common reasons for review of trademark rejection? Don’t be discouraged if your trademark has been rejected, just follow the information compiled by the intellectual property rights and proceed step by step. If you have any other questions, you can consult Bajie for more details. Is the success rate of trademark rejection review high? What are the precautions for trademark rejection review? Materials for trademark rejection review