In the daily application of well-known trademarks, we often meet the question raised by enterprises: What benefits can the application of well-known trademarks bring to enterprises? In fact, to put it bluntly, the subtext of the enterprise is: why should our enterprise spend a lot of money to declare and identify well-known trademarks?

1. Well-known trademarks can be protected by domestic laws

Well-known trademarks are intangible wealth, and whoever owns well-known trademarks is equal to mastering the alchemy.

in order to effectively protect the interests of well-known trademark owners, according to the provisions of the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights and the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property Rights, combined with China's actual situation, China has increased the protection of well-known trademarks in this revision of the Trademark Law.

the purpose of identifying well-known trademarks is to solve the conflict of trademark rights and protect the legitimate rights and interests of well-known trademark owners. After recognition, trademarks can enjoy all the rights of well-known trademarks stipulated in the Trademark Law of the People's Republic of China.

well-known trademarks can be protected more than ordinary trademarks after they are confirmed. Identifying well-known trademarks is a kind of legal protection means to solve trademark infringement disputes. What does it adopt? Case identification? And the principle of passive protection. If a product that has obtained a well-known trademark encounters an infringement dispute, the well-known trademark can be taken as a protected record and submitted to the Trademark Office of the State Administration for Industry and Commerce for arbitration.

article 13 of the trademark law of the people's Republic of China stipulates that a trademark applied for registration of the same or similar goods is a well-known trademark that is copied, imitated or translated by others, which may easily lead to confusion, so it shall not be registered and prohibited from being used.

if the trademark applied for registration of different or similar goods is a well-known trademark that has been registered by others, which misleads the public and may damage the interests of the registrant of the well-known trademark, it shall not be registered and its use shall be prohibited.

Paragraph 2 of Article 41 of the Trademark Law of the People's Republic of China stipulates that the owner of a well-known trademark registered in bad faith is not subject to the five-year time limit in this paragraph when requesting the Trademark Review and Adjudication Board to make a ruling to cancel the registered trademark that caused him losses.

Article 13 of the Provisions on the Recognition and Protection of Well-known Trademarks issued by the State Administration for Industry and Commerce stipulates that if a party considers that others have registered a well-known trademark as an enterprise name, it may deceive the public or cause misunderstanding to the public, it may apply to the enterprise name registration authority for cancellation of the enterprise name registration, and the enterprise name registration authority shall handle it in accordance with the Provisions on the Administration of Enterprise Name Registration.

Article 14 of the Provisions of the State Administration for Industry and Commerce on the Recognition and Protection of Well-known Trademarks stipulates that industrial and commercial administrative departments at all levels should strengthen the protection of well-known trademarks, and the cases suspected of counterfeiting trademarks should be transferred to relevant departments in time.

Article 2 of the Supreme People's Court's Interpretation on Several Issues Concerning the Application of Laws in the Trial of Trademark Civil Disputes stipulates: In accordance with Article 13, paragraph 1 of the Trademark Law, anyone who copies, imitates or translates a well-known trademark or its main part that is not registered by others and uses it as a trademark on the same or similar goods, which may easily lead to confusion, shall bear civil legal liability for stopping the infringement.

The provisions of these laws and regulations mean:

1. A trademark recognized as a well-known trademark has the right to prohibit others from registering or using its well-known trademark in a certain range of non-similar trademarks in addition to the exclusive right to use the trademark generated by trademark registration according to law.

2. A trademark recognized as a well-known trademark has the right to prohibit others from using it as a part of the enterprise name under the circumstances of strong distinctiveness and high popularity.

3. If the plaintiff is the owner of a well-known trademark when the infringement is determined, it is very likely that the administrative law enforcement or judicial organ will determine that the defendant is similar to his trademark.

4. With the vigorous development of the Internet, the protection of well-known trademarks has been extended to this virtual space. In other words, the power of well-known trademarks has been extended to the network field, that is, it is absolutely forbidden for others to maliciously rush to register the domain name right of well-known trademarks and register and use domain names that are the same as or similar to others' well-known trademarks.

Specifically, applying for a well-known trademark has the following advantages for trademark protection:

1. Resist malicious cybersquatting;

2. Countering the influence of identical (similar) trademarks of different commodities;

3. It is easier to identify similar trademarks;

4. There is no limit on the amount of the case when investigating the crime of counterfeiting trademarks;

5. Prevent other companies from registering with well-known trademarks as company names;

6. Avoid domain name registration in e-commerce.

II. Well-known trademarks can be protected by foreign laws

The Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Rights and the Agreement on Trade-related Intellectual Property Rights signed in p>1883 all made effective and specific provisions on the special protection of well-known trademarks.

Paragraph 1 of Article 6 bis of the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property stipulates that if a trademark belongs to a person who enjoys the protection of this Convention and is used for counterfeiting, imitation or translation of a well-known trademark on the same or similar goods in that country, it is easy to cause confusion. All members of the Union shall refuse or cancel the registration according to their functions and powers permitted by their own laws or at the request of the parties concerned, and prohibit the use.

Paragraph 3 of Article 16 of the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights of the World Trade Organization stipulates that Article 6 bis of the 1967 Paris Convention applies in principle to goods or services that are not similar to those marked by a registered trademark. As long as the trademark is used on similar goods or services, it will imply that the goods or services have some connection with the registered trademark owner, so that the interests of the registered trademark owner may be damaged.

China is a member of the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property, and has joined the World Trade Organization. It is our duty to fulfill the provisions of the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property and the Agreement on Trade-related Intellectual Property Rights, and to protect the registered or unregistered well-known trademarks of member countries in China.

the monopoly right beyond the geographical scope refers to the exclusive right of well-known trademarks, which is not the exclusive right of trademarks in the general legal sense, but a monopoly right that transcends the domestic scope and is protected in all countries in the world (at least nearly 2 Paris Convention member countries). That is to say, when a trademark has been recognized as a well-known trademark by the trademark authorities in the country of registration or use, if another trademark constitutes an imitation of the well-known trademark and is used on the same or similar goods, its registration shall be refused or cancelled, and its use shall be prohibited.

these provisions also apply to trademarks whose main part is forgery, imitation or imitation of another well-known trademark, which is likely to cause confusion. This can be called? Relative protectionism? , has been adopted by various countries in the civil law system. Many countries in the common law system adopt? Absolute protectionism? That is, the owner of a well-known trademark has the right not only to prohibit anyone else from using his well-known trademark on the same or similar goods, but also to prohibit the use of his well-known trademark on all other goods.

with China's accession to the WTO and the progress of international cooperation in intellectual property protection, the identification of well-known trademarks has also been recognized by trademark authorities and judicial organs in other countries, which has made well-known trademarks play an important role in solving international trademark rights disputes.

3. Well-known trademarks are the representatives of corporate image

Well-known trademarks are the economic business cards of an enterprise, a city or even a region.

A well-known trademark is not only an intellectual achievement, but also a symbol of corporate culture, and it is a representative of the glorious image of the enterprise. Practice has proved that the higher the popularity of a trademark, the higher its gold content. Well-known trademarks can not only double the value of designated goods, but also benefit other products of enterprises, improve the attractiveness of enterprises to the outside world, and then double the overall value of enterprises.

The number of well-known trademarks is a yardstick to measure the economic development of a region. Whoever owns more well-known trademarks means who has a rolling wealth. Like Guangdong, Zhejiang, Shandong, Jiangsu, Fujian and other coastal provinces in China, due to their developed economies, the number of well-known trademarks they own is also among the highest in the country.

In today's increasingly fierce market competition, well-known trademarks play an increasingly important role. For consumers, well-known trademarks mean excellent commodity quality and high corporate reputation; For well-known trademark owners, well-known trademarks are precious wealth, which means a wide market share and extraordinary entrepreneurial ability. In modern society, consumers' demand for goods has not only focused on quality and appearance, but also on taste and fashion, representing a certain status and position. Therefore, with the development of science and technology, the expansion of knowledge and information, and the continuous improvement of living standards, trademarks themselves contain huge intangible assets and are indispensable valuable wealth for enterprises.

a well-known trademark can convey a lot of information about the goods or services it represents to the buyers: excellent quality, long-term stability of quality, adaptability to the buyers' consumption habits and satisfaction of psychological enjoyment, etc. These market-tested information not only simplifies the buying behavior of buyers, but also simplifies the selling behavior of sellers. In other words, the buyer does not need to know all the above information one by one when buying, but only needs to identify the trademark. This is the so-called trust? Recognize the card to buy goods? ; Sellers don't have to go to great lengths to publicize the above information, but only need to repeat their trademarks through advertising and other media during the sales process.

Therefore, it can be said that well-known trademarks have become a stable link between continuous buyers and sellers.

IV. Legal effect of judicial and administrative determination of well-known trademarks

The legal effect of judicial and administrative determination of well-known trademarks is the same in theory, and they will be specially protected and advertised after determination, but there are still five important differences:

1. The identification institutions of the two are different

The administrative determination of well-known trademarks is unified by the Trademark Office of the State Administration for Industry and Commerce or the Trademark Review and Adjudication Board. The judicial determination of well-known trademarks is determined by the court hearing the case, that is to say, the first-instance cases of trademark civil disputes are under the jurisdiction of the people's courts at or above the intermediate level, and all courts with jurisdiction over disputed trademark cases can determine them.

2. There are different relief channels after the recognition of the two.

There is no clear regulation as to whether the administrative recognition results only for well-known trademarks can be requested to review or bring an administrative lawsuit.

for the administrative determination of well-known trademarks, if you are not satisfied with the specific administrative actions (such as administrative punishment decisions) made by the industrial and commercial departments or the decisions or rulings of the Trademark Review and Adjudication Board, you can bring an administrative lawsuit.

for the judicial determination of well-known trademarks, if they are not satisfied with the result of the determination of well-known trademarks by the court of first instance, the parties can appeal to the higher court and re-determine the fact that the disputed trademark is well-known in the second instance. If you are not satisfied with the result of the second trial, you can theoretically ask for re-identification through the trial supervision procedure.

3. There is a huge difference in influence between the two.

Well-known trademarks recognized through administrative channels have been recognized by the Trademark Office of the State Administration for Industry and Commerce or the Trademark Review and Adjudication Board, and will be uniformly announced in the name of the State Administration for Industry and Commerce, and will enter the national industrial and commercial network system, so they have strong authority in the national industrial and commercial administrative system. Industrial and commercial administrative departments at all levels in China will strengthen protection according to the special protection requirements for well-known trademarks, and will not allow other companies and individuals to register with well-known trademarks as company names.

Well-known trademarks identified through a court case will not be announced nationwide because they are only identified by a specific court (intermediate or high court) hearing the case. In contrast, the identification will have a high authority in the court system or the local industrial and commercial departments of the identification court, but the actual effect in other industrial and commercial administrative departments all over the country is still uncertain. Because there is no national announcement, the foreign industrial and commercial departments may not know that the trademark has been recognized as a well-known trademark by the court, so when the trademark holding company marks the product as a well-known trademark, the foreign industrial and commercial departments are likely to investigate and deal with it as a counterfeit. Of course, after the investigation, the relevant companies can take the court judgment to appeal.

4. The provisions on the re-examination or identification of well-known trademarks are not the same.

As far as the court is concerned, if a party requests protection for a well-known trademark once identified by an administrative authority or a people's court, the other party has no objection to the well-known trademark involved, and the people's court will not review it. If an objection is raised, the people's court will re-examine it in accordance with Article 14 of the Trademark Law.

for the industrial and commercial departments, if the scope of protection of a case that has been recognized as a well-known trademark is basically the same as that of a case that has been protected as a well-known trademark, and the other party has no objection to the well-known trademark, or although there is objection, it cannot provide evidence that the trademark is not well-known, the administrative department for industry and commerce accepting the case may make a ruling or handle the case according to the conclusion of the protection record.

if the scope of protection of the accepted case is different from that of the case that has been protected as a well-known trademark, or if the other party has objections to the well-known trademark and provides evidence that the trademark is not well-known, the Trademark Office or the Trademark Review and Adjudication Board shall re-examine the well-known trademark materials and make a determination.

5. The reward standards of some local governments are different

Some provincial and municipal governments do not reward well-known trademarks recognized by the judiciary, or the reward amount is only half that of well-known trademarks recognized by the administration.

in addition, what is recognized by the judiciary is generally expressed in the judgment as? The fact that a certain trademark has a well-known trademark? , but the administrative cognizance is generally expressed as? Identify a certain registration number and a certain trademark as a well-known trademark? .

knowing the above differences, enterprises can weigh them carefully and make their own judgments.