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Property rights protection: Pay attention to the international registration of pharmaceutical trademarks

Attach importance to the protection of well-known goods

Attach importance to the international registration of trademarks

Because they are well-known and the owners are generally larger enterprises, therefore, the law Give it a wider scope of protection. However, the scope and degree of protection must be specifically defined based on the specific circumstances of the trademark. Generally speaking, the expansion of protection is mainly reflected in the following aspects:

Our country is a member state of the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property. Although other members of the Convention have not applied for registration in our country, they have Trademarks recognized as such by the Trademark Office shall be protected.

Second, products with originality can be protected across product categories. For example, if a non-owner of the trademark ‘Tongrentang’ uses ‘Tongrentang’ on medicines for health food, beverages and other products and applies for registration, the application will be rejected. Any unauthorized use shall be stopped by the industrial and commercial administration authorities, and fines may also be imposed in serious cases. It should be noted that although Tongrentang is not registered as a health food and beverage product, the aforementioned protection can still be implemented. This is another meaning of what people call “expanded protection”.

Third, if the Trademark Office determines that, from the date of determination, others use the same or similar words as part of the company name, and may cause misunderstanding by the public, the industrial and commercial administration authorities shall not The registration has been approved; if it has been registered, the registrant may request the industrial and commercial administrative authority to cancel it within two years from the date it knows or should know.

Only after the trademark of a pharmaceutical company is recognized and determined as a trademark, the special protection across categories of goods and services under my country's Trademark Law can take effect. The law generally determines the scope of protection of registered trademarks within 'similar goods' and 'similar trademarks', with the purpose of avoiding public confusion and misunderstanding of the source of goods; while the law implements 'cross-class protection' for the scope of protection of registered trademarks. It should be noted that 'cross-class protection' means 'protection across similar goods' rather than 'protection across goods categories', and the standard for 'cross-class protection' that determines its scope of protection is no longer to exclude the possibility of confusion. sex'.

Whether ‘cross-category protection’ covers all fields, my country’s current laws do not clearly define this. From the original intention of the legislation, there should be restrictions on cross-category protection. Moderate protection should be based on judgments that are sufficient to cause consumers to confuse, misunderstand or create some association with the provider of goods and the source of services. It cannot cover all field. At the same time, when hearing such cases, the court should make reasonable judgments in the case based on the circumstances of the case, taking into account factors such as the popularity and distinctiveness of the trademark and the misleading nature of the alleged infringement, and should not turn it into an unprincipled all-class Protect.

Pay attention to the international registration of trademarks

According to the requirements of the World Trade Organization's "TRIPS Agreement", my country's "Trademark Law" has been revised to expand the objects of trademark rights, for example, adding three-dimensional Regulations on the registration of visual trademarks such as trademarks and color trademarks. Enterprises should pay attention to the application of these new regulations and achieve broad registration, broad registration and diversified registration. This will not only obtain greater benefits from the new intellectual property protection system, but also prepare for risk prevention when opening up the international market.

Developed companies understand the importance of international registration of trademarks to prevent counterfeiting and squatting. For example, Japan's Daiko Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. (referred to as "Daiko") produces the 'House Brand Shoro Pills' which has a history of more than 90 years. As early as 1983, it had submitted a request to the China Trademark Office for trademark registration including the words 'House Brand' and 'Sero'. The trademark including the pattern applied for registration and was approved. In July 1994, a pharmaceutical company in my country imported 47,990 bottles of 'Izumi Brand Shoro Pills' produced by Japan's Izumi Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. - referred to as 'Izumi' - for sale. As of September 21 of the same year, 10,402 bottles had been sold, with an illegal income of more than 108,344 yuan. .

After discovering this, the Chinese market inspector ‘Da Xing’ complained to the Industrial and Commercial Administration Bureau about infringement by a Chinese pharmaceutical company on September 17 of the same year, requesting that it be dealt with.

The local industrial and commercial bureau believes that the gastrointestinal medicine 'Izumi Shoro Pills' produced by 'Izumi' does constitute infringement of the trademark of 'Trumpet Brand Shoro Pills' produced by 'Daxing', and a Chinese pharmaceutical company's distribution of 'Izumi Brand Shoro Pills' also infringes on 'Daxing' the exclusive right to register a trademark. After research, it was decided to seize the remaining 37,588 bottles, confiscate their illegal income, and impose a fine of 139,000 yuan. In this case, Japan's 'Daiko' applied to my country's Trademark Office for registration of trademarks including the words and patterns of 'horn brand' and 'zhenglu' and was approved for registration. This international registration effectively paved the way for its products to explore the Chinese market. Risk prevention preparations.

The above cases illustrate that in the face of fierce competition in the international market, Chinese pharmaceutical companies should also promptly target product export directions, select key countries, and register trademarks in a timely manner. Fortunately, some well-known pharmaceutical companies in my country have paid attention to the international registration of their trademarks. For example, Sanjiu Group has applied for the trademark registration of '999' and 'Sanjiu Weitai' in Switzerland, France, Germany, Japan, the United States, Spain and other countries. , laying the foundation for international intellectual property protection for enterprises to 'go global'.

Use copyright to protect drug instructions

In the pharmaceutical market, counterfeiting of drug instructions and drug terms also occurs from time to time. Therefore, it is necessary to protect it through legal means.

The contents of the drug instructions include: drug name, main ingredients, pharmacological effects, toxic and side effects, usage and dosage, contraindications, trademark and approval number, etc. It is a legal document approved by the health administration department and has The binding nature and clinical applicability of the law are important reference materials for medical staff, pharmacists and patients to purchase, store and use drugs.

Drug instructions are protected by the Copyright Law. Without the permission of the copyright owner, that is, without the consent of the drug manufacturer, any person may plagiarize or copy other people’s drug instructions, or reproduce them in printing form for the purpose of profit. Modified or tampered instructions are all infringements and infringe the copyright of the drug instructions.

In order to obtain effective protection from the Copyright Law, drug instructions should be written uniquely while ensuring scientific standards, so that companies can prevent others from plagiarism and infringement, and also avoid He was suspected of plagiarizing other people's drug instructions. In addition, the paper color, pattern, layout and other designs used as drug instructions are also protected by the Copyright Law.