Sanlu?, a trademark that was once worth close to 15 billion yuan, fell from the altar due to the melamine incident, and Sanlu Group went bankrupt as a result. Subsequently, the "Sanlu" series of trademarks were auctioned as a whole package and were won by a company in Zhejiang at a price of 7.3 million yuan. Regarding the return of the "Sanlu" trademark, people will inevitably have some questions: After the melamine incident, the Sanlu Group has lost all its goodwill. Is the "Sanlu" trademark still valuable? The public still has doubts about the return of the "Sanlu" trademark. Will you accept it again? This article believes that if you want to explore the value structure of a trademark, you should start with the relationship between trademarks and goodwill.
1. Is a trademark equivalent to goodwill?
The relationship between trademarks and goodwill has been debated for many years. Judging from the history of trademark protection, when a trademark was first protected, it was protected as goodwill. Therefore, in the view of relevant scholars, goodwill constitutes the source of value of a trademark and is the essential prerequisite for the establishment of trademark rights. For example, some people believe that trademarks and the goodwill they carry are interdependent and inseparable, and they are the essence of things. In view of this, the object of trademark rights is not so much the trademark, but rather the goodwill carried by the trademark. Despite this, this article believes that:
(1) Trademark and goodwill are not one-to-one correspondence
There are different opinions on the concept of goodwill, and different subject areas have given different answers. . This article prefers the following point of view: Goodwill is a special form of contract, which is a friendly relationship formed between an enterprise and its customers. Since this friendly relationship has the predictability of obtaining future benefits, it is a valuable asset of the enterprise. assets of value. A trademark refers to a sign that can distinguish the goods or services of a natural person, legal person or other organization from the goods or services of others. As far as the two concepts are concerned, goodwill belongs to the category of people's subjective evaluation. That is to say, although goodwill is usually regarded as the intangible property of the enterprise, it also has distinctive personality characteristics; while trademarks belong to the specific objective category. , both have different properties.
First of all, goodwill is not the decisive factor in trademark protection. Although in some cases goodwill plays a decisive role in the formation, utilization and protection of trademark value, it is not the fundamental basis for the establishment and protection of trademark rights. In fact, as two independent value systems, goodwill only exerts an indirect and auxiliary influence on trademark rights, and the real soul of trademark protection should be the distinctiveness of trademarks. Specifically, the impact of goodwill on trademark rights is mainly reflected in the following: on the one hand, it helps those descriptive marks that originally lack distinctiveness to obtain distinctiveness; on the other hand, it helps to enhance the distinctiveness of trademarks.
Secondly, trademarks are not the only carrier of goodwill. From the public's perspective, although trademarks can be seen as an important medium for perceiving a company's goodwill, it is not the only way. In addition to trademarks, corporate identification symbols also include the company's trade name, unique advertising slogans, eye-catching decoration design of business premises, and unique product packaging. This shows that trademark is not the only carrier of goodwill, and there is by no means a one-to-one correspondence between the two.
(2) Trademark and goodwill are inseparable and independent of each other
Trademark is inseparable from goodwill, and goodwill is also inseparable from trademark. As for the significance of goodwill to trademarks, generally speaking, the formation of trademark distinctiveness mainly depends on two factors, namely the uniqueness of the identification mark itself and the sustained business use of the identification mark by the merchant. As for the former, merchants can choose artificial identification symbols, or choose to use as trademarks a fashionable or unique identification symbol that has attracted public attention due to a specific person or event. But in comparison, through the unremitting efforts of merchants, a common identification symbol that is not originally outstanding can also gain more influential and lasting differentiation through cultivation. In this process, it is the goodwill of the enterprise that strengthens the connection between the trademark symbol and the product of a specific origin, thereby prompting the public to deepen the psychological impression of the trademark symbol itself. In this sense, we can regard goodwill as a catalyst that continuously enhances the distinctiveness of trademarks. In short, the value of a trademark mainly lies in its distinctiveness, and the function of goodwill is to continuously enhance this distinctiveness, thereby increasing the value of the trademark.
As far as the significance of trademarks to goodwill is concerned, on the one hand, modern trademarks have sales power, which plays an important role in the process of creating goodwill.
Judging from the historical evolution of modern trademarks, with the development of social production and the intensification of market competition, people's understanding of the function of trademarks is no longer limited to "brand recognition and shopping", but is regarded as an important marketing tool. In order to meet the psychological needs of consumers chasing social differences through consumption, operators need to give products more spiritual connotations and symbolic meanings. As the face of products, trademarks undoubtedly have dual attributes: the natural attribute of identifying the source and the expression of personality. , social attributes of identity. If goodwill is the public's positive evaluation of a merchant's comprehensive quality, then shaping the symbolic meaning of a trademark is actually no different from improving product quality, and both can be seen as an important means for companies to create goodwill value.
On the other hand, a company's goodwill is often created subtly, and consumers' perception of goodwill must be completed with the help of the company's identity recognition symbol system. Among them, trademark is one of the important ways for the public to perceive and identify the goodwill of a company.
2. The composition of trademark value
Based on the above analysis, it can be concluded that the value of a trademark is inseparable from goodwill, but the value of a trademark does not entirely come from goodwill. So, how is the value of a trademark constituted? This article believes that the value of a trademark is usually composed of three parts: trademark value = cost value + distinction value + goodwill value.
(1) Cost value of a trademark
The cost value of a trademark, including registration costs and maintenance costs, refers to the labor and materialization of a trademark from conception, design to put into use labor. This is the material basis that constitutes the value of a trademark and can be statistically calculated and calculated in currency. Before registering a trademark, you must first invest in costs. Costs include design fees and registration fees. Design refers to the determination of the trademark name, the drawing of the trademark pattern, or the design of a combination thereof. If the trademark applicant designs it by himself, it will consume his intelligence and labor time. If he asks others to design it, he will need to pay a design fee. A trademark design may only cost a few yuan, or it may cost thousands of yuan. A typical example of this is the Essoke trademark. In order to update the "Esso" oil trademark, Mobil Oil Company of the United States gathered experts in linguistics, sociology, psychology, statistics and other fields. It took 5 years to investigate the languages ????of 55 countries and designed more than 10,000 There are several trademarks, and the trademark finally selected by the company only has one more word than "Esso", but it cost 120 million US dollars.
After the trademark design is completed, it enters the registration stage. Registration fees include trademark registration fees (charged according to category) and fees required for other procedures. Among them, if you entrust an agency organization, you need to pay an agency fee; in order to avoid being identical or similar to a trademark with prior rights, you need to pay a search fee if you conduct a prior search. Some trademarks may need to go through multiple procedures such as rejection, rejection review, opposition, opposition defense, and opposition review before they can be successfully registered. The total of the above fees is the cost of trademark registration.
In the use of a trademark after registration, the registrant may continue to invest in costs in order to maintain the validity of the trademark. For example, the registrant files an objection to a later application for the same or similar trademark in order to protect the trademark rights; Any infringement of trademark rights requires administrative agencies to investigate or prosecute in court; the registrant must pay renewal fees when the trademark expires. The above-mentioned trademark maintenance costs should also be classified as the cost value of the trademark.
(2) The distinguishing value of trademarks
The distinguishing value of trademarks, that is, the distinctive value of trademarks, refers to the fact that trademarks convey product information and provide guidance for the public to identify product sources and purchase goods. and the value of help. The basic function of a trademark is to enable consumers to identify goods or services and their source. ?In modern society, trademarks have become a market tool and a bridge and link for information communication between businesses and consumers. Merchants use various means to attach information about goods or services to trademarks, and consumers learn about the information about goods or services contained in trademarks through various channels. Based on this information, consumers can associate certain trademarks with specific products or services as a reference for your own purchasing behavior. Consumers choose goods or services based on the differences between trademarks, the individual characteristics of different trademarks, and the potential meanings contained in different trademarks. Therefore, goodwill only indirectly affects trademark rights by exerting a subtle influence on the distinctiveness of trademarks, and the distinctiveness of trademarks is the key to determining the establishment and protection of trademark rights. For most start-up companies, the lack of goodwill does not prevent them from utilizing and protecting the trademark recognition function.
The stronger the distinctiveness of a trademark logo, the higher the public’s sensitivity to it. In today's era of attention economy, having a trademark with strong distinctiveness will undoubtedly make its products easier to attract the public's attention, which will help merchants get rid of the siege of competitors and quickly seize business opportunities. This is the significance of the distinctive value of a trademark.
(3) Goodwill value of trademarks
The goodwill value of trademarks refers to all efforts made by enterprises to improve product quality, reduce product prices, and fully meet consumer needs. , is the embodiment of the enterprise's scientific and technological level, operation and management level and market competitiveness. The goodwill value of a trademark is determined by factors such as the quality and applicability of the goods, the length of time the trademark has been used, the size of the area in which it is used, the intensity of advertising and consumer psychology, and other factors. Depending on the operating conditions of the company, the value of goodwill can be positive or negative. When a company's goodwill declines sharply due to defects in product and service quality or poor management by operators, the goodwill value of a trademark may be negative.
In real economic life, the behaviors of enterprises to enhance the distinguishing value of trademarks and to enhance the goodwill value of trademarks often coincide. That is to say, while improving the distinguishing value of trademarks, the goodwill value is also improved. promote. For example, in order to increase the popularity of the trademark, the trademark owner will sell the goods using the trademark on the market and be purchased by consumers, and pay various advertising fees to increase the awareness of the trademark among the public. This behavior is regarded as an important means to maintain the distinctiveness of the trademark and should be attributed to the distinguishing value of the trademark. However, at the same time, the goodwill value of the trademark is also increased in this process.
The components of trademark value undergo structural changes at different stages of trademark value development. The author believes that the formation of trademark value is generally divided into several stages: creation period, development period, maturity period, and there may also be a decline period.
When a trademark is established, its function is only to distinguish the goods or services of an enterprise from those of other enterprises through registration. The value of a trademark at this stage is concentrated in the material costs and living labor costs of creating and holding the trademark. , expressed as the cost value of the trademark. The development period is a critical period for the formation of trademark value. Its growth rate depends on various factors within the enterprise. The enterprise improves the technical content of the goods, improves the quality of the goods, changes the packaging, marketing methods, expands publicity, and provides good after-sales services. This method can increase the market share of goods and expand the popularity of trademarks, thereby enhancing the value of trademarks and forming their own unique value form. During this period, the distinguishing value of trademarks was rapidly increased, and the value of goodwill was gradually accumulated. In the mature stage, the trademark created by the company has been recognized by customers and the market. People begin to purchase goods based on this trademark, forming a certain trademark "complex". A high degree of trust and harmony between the company and customers has been achieved. Maximize the value of your trademark. At this time, the distinguishing value and goodwill value of the trademark have reached their peak. When a company is not operating well, consumers' trust in the company will be reduced, and the goodwill value of the trademark may be zero or negative, thus having a negative impact on the value of the trademark. This is called a recession. It can be seen that the recession period is not an inevitable stage, it is usually determined by the operating conditions of the enterprise.
It can be seen that in the composition of trademark value, the cost value comes from behaviors such as design and registration, while the distinction value and goodwill value mainly come from the use of the trademark. Design and registration are the basis for the establishment of trademark value, and trademark use behaviors such as operation and publicity are the source of rapid appreciation of trademark value.
In the specific case of "Sanlu", some people believe that the 7.3 million yuan obtained from the auction of the "Sanlu" trademark is the sum of the cost value and the difference value after deducting the goodwill value. The author believes that, This should also include the negative impact of the melamine incident, that is, the negative value of goodwill.
3. Conclusion
A trademark is not just a separate mark. It is actually a trinity composed of the subject who uses the trademark, the object of the trademark and the signs that make up the trademark. of unity. In real life, there are a large number of trademark transfers that only use trademark exclusive rights as the transaction object. In this case, as long as the transferee clearly indicates the actual producer of the product during actual use, the resulting trademark identification The system will also inevitably be different from before the transfer due to changes in the origin of the product indicated by the logo.
Therefore, we must believe that consumers in modern economic society have the ability to identify the source of products. In other words, the distinguishing value of trademarks is more important to them.
Back to the case of the "Sanlu" trademark, the author believes that the negative impact of the "Sanlu" incident itself and a large amount of social publicity will encourage consumers to encounter the "Sanlu" trademark when encountering it. When identifying the origin of goods more carefully, the distinctive value of the "Sanlu" trademark will be more obvious. Of course, turning the goodwill value of the trademark from negative to positive depends on the future management and operation of the trademark transferee. Consumers are very discerning. Once the business is done properly, the transferee's goods will also be favored by consumers. recognition. As the saying goes, "If you keep the green hills, you won't have to worry about running out of firewood." As long as the trademark remains, the value of goodwill can be rebuilt. What is the future of the Sanlu trademark after it changes hands? We will wait and see.