Rub hot spots and rush to register trademarks can rest!

In recent days, the names of Olympic athletes have been submitted for trademark registration by some market subjects, which has aroused widespread concern and heated discussion from all walks of life. In fact, it is not just the problem of Olympic athletes that names encounter trademark registration. As the saying goes, "people are popular for right and wrong". From the fact that the names of Nobel laureate Tu youyou and Mo Yan were first submitted for trademark registration by others, to the fact that the well-known short video creator "Papi sauce" encountered a similar trademark registration application confirmed by others first, and "Papi sauce" was rejected, After Ding Zhen, a Tibetan Boy in Litang County, Ganzi Prefecture, Sichuan Province, quickly became popular on the Internet, some market players submitted a large number of trademark registration applications containing the word "Ding Zhen", and trademark registration events around the names of public figures occurred from time to time.

Malicious rush to register the names of public figures and other acts have seriously disturbed the market economic order and the order of trademark management. The State Intellectual Property Office has always attached great importance to this. It has taken effective measures at the stage of trademark registration review and trial, moved forward the gateway to crack down on malicious registration, and severely cracked down on serious violations of the principle of good faith, public order and good customs The malicious rush to register trademarks, which disturbs the order of trademark registration management and is easy to cause serious adverse social impact, creates a good environment for all kinds of market subjects to compete fairly, carry out innovation and consciously resist the malicious rush to register trademarks.

On November 1, 2019, the fourth revised trademark law was officially implemented, which made it clear to crack down on malicious trademark application and registration according to law in all processes and links of trademark examination and trial, provided a direct and clear upper legal basis for regulating malicious trademark registration, and stopped malicious trademark registration from the source, The regulation of malicious trademark registration will run through the whole trademark application and registration procedure. In order to implement the relevant provisions of the trademark law and effectively regulate the application and registration of malicious trademarks, the State Intellectual Property Office issued several provisions on regulating the application and registration of trademarks, which came into force on December 1 of the same year, refined the punishment measures for malicious trademark application and registration and illegal agents, and imposed a penalty of three times the illegal income on malicious trademark applicants The maximum fine shall not exceed 30000 yuan, and the trademark agency that helps to engage in malicious application shall be fined up to 100000 yuan. If the circumstances are serious, its acceptance business shall be stopped.

In order to further intensify the crackdown on malicious trademark registration, the State Intellectual Property Office launched a special action to crack down on malicious trademark registration in March this year, comprehensively using legal punishment, administrative guidance and credit constraints to strengthen the investigation of case clues and carry out accurate crackdown around the whole process of trademark registration, We will use heavy fists and combined fists to curb acts such as malicious rubbing hot spots, following the trend and rushing to register, guide the whole society to further establish a correct awareness of trademark registration, promote the stable number and quality of trademark applications, promote the high-quality development of intellectual property, and provide fair competition for all kinds of market subjects Carry out innovation and consciously resist malicious trademark registration, and create a good legal environment, market environment and social environment for intellectual property rights.

"As a symbol, the name itself has the function of distinguishing individuals. Because the name of a public figure contains information commonly known to the public, when the name of a public figure is associated with a specific business activity, it may produce the result of promoting the sales of goods or services and has high commercial value." Du Ying, director of the intellectual property research center of the Central University of Finance and economics, said that the names of public figures have high attention and popularity. If they are registered as trademarks, they can be easily recognized and remembered by consumers, which is convenient to form a corresponding relationship with relevant goods or services. When marketing goods or services, they can effectively save costs and achieve good publicity and promotion results, Some market players are playing this "wishful thinking", submitting the names of public figures to the trademark registration application in order to achieve the purpose of "free riding", and even intend to transfer the registered trademarks at a high price to seek illegitimate interests.

"China's standards for trademark examination and adjudication clearly stipulates that those who use their names to apply for a registered trademark, mislead the public, hinder public order and good customs, or have other adverse effects may be examined in accordance with item (8) of paragraph 1 of Article 10 of the trademark law." Zhao Hu, a partner of Beijing Zhongwen law firm, believes that if the logo contains the same or similar words as the names of public figures, it is easy for the public to misunderstand the source of goods or services without their own permission, which is enough to have a negative and negative impact on China's political, economic, cultural, religious, ethnic and other social public interests and public order, If it is harmful to socialist morality or has other adverse effects, the relevant trademark registration application shall be rejected.

"The act of rushing to register the names of public figures and seeking illegitimate interests with the help of their own popularity not only violates the principle of good faith and damages the name right of public figures, but also damages social public order and public order and good customs to a certain extent." Jia Hong, deputy director of the Intellectual Property Department of Zhejiang Liuhe law firm, said that if this kind of trademark registration behavior is allowed to occur, it will seriously impact China's normal trademark registration order and encourage the bad atmosphere of getting something for nothing and enjoying the benefits of others. It must be cracked down on and curbed strictly and quickly.

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