In recent years, this kind of trademark infringement dispute cases are common: the dispute between three enterprises about whether to use Jin Lu trademark is infringement; And the dispute between Hainan tea factories about whether the trademark of Lan Guiren is an ordinary commodity name and so on. This kind of trademark dispute cases are often protracted and have attracted much attention. The result not only affects the fate of a group of enterprises, the standardized development and orderly competition of an industry, but also affects the vital interests of ordinary consumers and their cognition of trademark law.
Today, although the Trademark Law explicitly prohibits the trademark registration of ordinary commodity names, there is no direct law. What are the common trade names? The quotation of common commodity names must be clear, specific, established and widely accepted by consumers. The formation of common commodity names has a historical process and is dynamic. Therefore, it is very difficult to prove that a registered trademark is a common commodity name.
I already confirmed it, okay? Evergreen tree? Taking trademark non-infringement as an example, we visited most evergreen production enterprises in Ningbo and collected their files, sales invoices and industry reference books. However, the time and space span of these evidences is large, and the geographical scope of evidence collection is limited, which may not be enough to prove the fact that evergreen is a common commodity name.
How to prove that it is a common commodity name, this paper thinks there are the following ways: first, from the perspective of trademark meaning, whether the trademark name is enough to associate with a certain function, use, characteristics and quality of the commodity. Second, from the time of trademark use, whether the trademark used as a commodity name is earlier than the date of trademark registration application and has been widely used. 3. Whether the commodity has been widely accepted and used as a commodity name, consider its popularity in the fields of production, sales, circulation and consumption. For example, obtaining evidence through industry associations is relatively reliable.
The enlightenment of such cases is that all walks of life should raise their awareness of trademark protection. For products that are widely known in various places and have regional characteristics, local trade associations and government agencies should be vigilant, organize and remind them to register such trademarks as collective trademarks, certification trademarks or geographical indication trademarks as soon as possible to protect the prosperity and steady development of local industry and commerce.