Principle of use

Registration principle

The principle of use is a relatively primitive principle of trademark confirmation. The early trademark protection was based on use, and the ownership of trademark rights was determined according to the order of use.

The legislative basis of American trademark law is the "trade clause" in the Constitution. Trade comes first, and trademarks are used in interstate trade, so trademark protection comes. Therefore, the United States is a representative country adopting the principle of use.

Although the current Lanham Law has introduced the trademark registration system, use is still a prerequisite for trademark registration and a necessary condition for the emergence of trademark rights. The applicant filed an application with the US Patent and Trademark Office on the grounds of "use" and "intended use". The trademark registration obtained in the "main book registration" has nothing to do with the acquisition of trademark rights, but some additional benefits can be obtained from the registration.

According to Article 7 of the Lanham Law, the registration certificate is the basic proof, indicating the validity of the registered trademark and the validity of trademark registration, indicating that the registrant has the right to exclusively use the registered trademark in commercial activities. In this way, the trademark owner can be exempted from the responsibility of proving that he owns the trademark right in the infringement lawsuit.