Original title: invalidation of trademark registration system for the protection of well-known trademarks trademark invalidation system means that a trademark will not be registered absolute or relative grounds exist at the time of application for registration, or by others to take the initiative to find trademark registration application after the executive branch, by the executive branch to declare the trademark registration invalid trademark, the trademark back to the legal system from the beginning that there is no state, one way is to make the trademark eliminated. Our registered trademark invalidation system for the protection of well-known trademarks, embodied in Article 13 of the Trademark, Article 45 provisions. According to my country’s trademark law and the third paragraph of Article 13 (2), on the same or similar trademark application for registration of goods is a reproduction, imitation or translation of another person not registered well-known trademarks in China, likely to cause confusion, and will not be registered prohibited. Is not identical or dissimilar goods trademark application for registration of a copy, imitation or translation of a well-known trademark already registered in China, misleads the public, the well-known trademark registrant’s interests may be damaged by such registration and prohibit the use of " this provision is relatively prohibited grounds registration of the trademark in the same or a similar one is prohibited on others registered commodity unregistered well-known trademark in China, the second is prohibited registered people on all categories registered well-known trademark in my country. according to statute provisions of Article 45, from the date of registration of the trademark within 5 years prior right or an interested party may dispute a registered trademark filed a request for invalidation.
Typically, a well-known trademark owner shall, from the date of registration of the trade mark made five years, unless it is proved that the bad faith registration of trademarks registered, are not subject to five-year age limit.
In trademark invalidation proceedings for the Article 13 of the Trademark Law, subject to the provisions of Article 45 is to determine whether the cited mark composed of well-known trademarks. About that well-known trademarks, according to the provisions of Article 14 of the Trademark Law, should be considered the relevant public to the extent known trademark, the duration of use of trademarks, the duration and the extent and geographic scope of any publicity of trademarks, trademarks as well-known trademarks records protected by other factors well-known trademarks. In the request dispute "TOEFL" trademark invalidation, the "TOEFL" trademark applicant Educational Testing Service Center, "TOEFL" she started using the trademark in China in 1981 and has carried out continuous publicity and promotion, examination outlets throughout most provinces and regions nationwide, and its examination outlets and increasing the number of candidates is growing, influence and visibility continued to improve, based on this can be found "TOEFL" trademark, "TOEFL" trademark in the disputed trademark "TOEFL" has recently applied for registration well known to the relevant public, composed of well-known trademarks.
On "copy, imitation or translation of another person’s well-known trademark," the judgment, copying is with others well-known trademark is identical; imitation is a total plagiarism well-known trademark or copy someone else’s well-known significant part of the mark or salient features; translation refers to the well-known others trademark to be expressed in a different language, and the language has been established correspondence relationships with others well-known trademarks, and widely known by the relevant public or customary use.
On the "TOEFL" trademark dispute invalidation request, the disputed mark is a trademark of plain English "TOEFL", with the applicant advocate "TOEFL" well-known trademark exactly, constitutes a reproduction.
Decision as "bad faith registration", in accordance with Article 25 of the "Provisions on Some Issues of the Supreme People’s Court on the trial of administrative cases indeed authorized trademark rights", the people’s court to determine whether the applicant complained fight "bad faith registration" other well-known trademarks, citation should be considered well-known trademark, the trademark dispute v v applicants dispute the grounds and the use of the trademark dispute trademark complaint specific circumstances to determine their subjective intentions. Cited high-profile trademark, trademark applicant does not dispute complaint justified, the court may constitute a presumption that registered the first paragraph of Article 44 of the Trademark Law in the meaning of "registered in bad faith." In "Shi Hua Luo and map" trademark dispute invalidation request, the earlier trade mark "Swarovski" and "SWAROVSKI" with high visibility for consumers familiar trademark, registered trademark complaint fight "Swarovski and map" people have this trademark registered trademark climb high reputation of others, seek improper economic interests obviously malicious, so the trademark dispute appeal for invalidation unrestricted five-year period.
Article XIII of the Trademark Law, the provisions of Article 45 is to increase reflects the well-known trademark protection efforts, reflecting the administrative, judicial strict regulations for intentional climb another’s trademark reputation and goodwill, proposed the establishment of a malicious registered trademark by request for invalidation system is conducive to safeguarding the legitimate rights and interests of the parties, for the promotion of trademark registration, healthy and orderly development of the market economy has a positive effect.
(Wangrui Peng Chen Shaolan) (Editor: Lin Lu, Li Fang) Share to let more people see recommended reading.