With the popularity of "Changjin Lake" came not only honors, but also infringement incidents. A netizen who calls himself "Director Hao Ping" posted a video saying that the movie "Changjin Lake" violated other people's trademark rights, and posted a trademark registration certificate with the words "Changjin Lake" and the name "Ice and Snow" Certificate of work of "Changjin Lake".
After seeing this news, many netizens directly asked: Are you sure this is not a scam? The movie became popular, and all kinds of copyright infringement and plagiarism lawsuits came in! Besides, isn’t Changjin Lake a place name? Isn't it a battle? Why are trademark rights involved? Trademark protection must be done as soon as possible
In fact, it is not uncommon for phenomenal movies to be accused of plagiarism and infringement after they are released. Earlier, the second instance of the copyright dispute involving the movie "The Richest Man in Xihong City" was pronounced, and the Beijing Intellectual Property Court finally ruled that it did not constitute infringement.
Trademarks, like domain names, are both unique and exclusive. If someone else applies for registration first, you cannot apply for registration again. Therefore, when protecting your brand and registering a trademark, you must act first, and don’t wait until you are “touched.” Porcelain" only regrets it! "Changjin Lake" does not infringe
A senior lawyer's post on WeChat Moments is a representative point of view and has been widely quoted: "There should be a bottom line for taking advantage of the popularity of Changjin Lake. Using the Changjin Lake trademark The popularity of the Great Battle of Changjin Lake is very difficult to accept. Trademark rights also have scope of application. Boundless exaggeration and distorted interpretation of trademarks will cause unnecessary confusion and misleading to the public, which is worrying. ”
The "others" mentioned by "Director Hao Ping" are Beijing Jiadianshui Culture Media Co., Ltd. It is understood that he submitted an application for trademark registration of "Changjin Lake" on October 29, 2020, and obtained the trademark registration certificate on July 14, 2021. The international classification involves Category 41 Educational Entertainment, including "Except Commercial Films" "External film production", "film screening", "film distribution", etc.
According to Article 57 of the Trademark Law, using the same trademark as the registered trademark on the same kind of goods without the permission of the trademark registrant is an infringement of the exclusive right to use the registered trademark.
But this does not mean that the movie "Changjin Lake" is suspected of trademark infringement. Legally speaking, Changjin Lake can now be recognized as a foreign place name known to the audience. Without other meanings, it cannot be used as a trademark according to Article 10, Paragraph 2 of the Trademark Law. At the same time, using "Changjin Lake" as the name of the movie is a description of the place where the story told in the movie takes place. It does not actually play a role in distinguishing the source of the goods, and does not constitute use in the sense of trademark law. Therefore, it does not constitute an infringement of the exclusive right to use a previously registered trademark.
A movie is neither a commodity nor a service, and a trademark is a sign that distinguishes the source of goods or services. In other words, the movie "Changjin Lake" has a different meaning to the words "Changjin Lake". Use is not use within the meaning of trademark law. What's more, the "Changjin Lake" trademark registered by Beijing Jiadianshui Culture Media Co., Ltd. belongs to Class 41, and Class 41 is a service related to movies, not the movie itself.
In terms of alleged copyright infringement, the title of the work registered by Hao Ping is "Synopsis of "Ice and Snow Changjin Lake"", and there is no evidence that it is similar to the content of the movie. Moreover, from the perspective of the application time, suspicion of copyright and registered trademark infringement is also eliminated.