Pipilu "is the name of a well-known literary character originally created by contemporary writer Zheng Yuanjie on February 10, 1981. It carries countless childhood memories of the Post-70s, post-80s and post-90s.". On June 20, 2022, Zheng Yuanjie received the ruling sent by the State Intellectual Property Office, declaring the trademark of Chengdu Pipilu pigskin invalid. On the same day, Zheng Yuanjie posted that "it took 13 years, during which three ups and downs, and finally successfully defended the rights of Chengdu Pipilu pig skin and meat trademark. I was 54 years old when I began to defend the rights. When I successfully defended the rights, I was 67 years old. How many 13 years of life?"

01

In February 2009, Zou mouhong in Chengdu, Sichuan Province maliciously registered the trademark "Pipilu" No. 7197328 without the authorization of Zheng Yuanjie for the production and sale of Pipilu pork skins. According to Article 31 of the trademark law at that time, "the application for trademark registration shall not prejudice the existing prior rights of others", Zou mouhong violated Zheng Yuanjie's prior rights. After the trademark "Pipilu pork" entered the announcement period, Zheng Yuanjie raised an objection to the State Trademark Office, which refused to accept it. The reason for refusing to accept is that Zou mouhong uses "Pipilu" to produce and sell pig skin and meat, and Zheng Yuanjie uses "Pipilu" to write fairy tales. There is no relationship between the two.

("Pipilu pork skin" product packaging, tuyuan Weibo)

Fortunately, on March 1st, 2017, the Supreme People's Court promulgated the "provisions of the Supreme People's Court on the trial of administrative cases of trademark authorization confirmation", Article 22 of which clearly states that for works within the term of copyright protection, if the name of the work and the color name in the work have high popularity, Using it as a trademark on related goods is likely to cause the relevant public to mistakenly believe that it has been approved by the obligee or has a specific connection with the obligee, and the party's claim constitutes a prior interest, which shall be supported by the people's court. Zheng Yuanjie once again stepped into the road of safeguarding the copyright of "Pipilu".

This path of safeguarding rights lasted until April 13, 2022, when the Beijing Higher People's court made a final judgment: the Trademark No. 7197328, maliciously registered by Zou mouhong, the legal representative of "Chengdu Huicheng Food Co., Ltd." in 2009, infringed the intellectual property rights of Zheng Yuanjie, and the trademark registration was invalid. This is the final judgment.

02

Tightening copyright protection, trademark infringement has been banned repeatedly. A trademark protection case, ranging from twoorthree years to more than ten years, is indeed a sad problem. At present, many trademark registration behaviors are suspected of being "near fame" and "touching porcelain", which is quite different from the original intention of protecting intellectual property rights. Low registration costs, huge profit margins, attractive commercial value, trademark registration phenomenon occurs frequently, and even spawns a large number of professional trademark registrants who take the preemptive registration of others' trademarks and logos as their industry, and harass the actual obligees through threats, complaints, litigation and other means, so as to seek illegal benefits. This not only disrupts the order of trademark registration and damages the normal atmosphere of intellectual property protection, but also poses a new equity risk to unspecified groups.

However, in recent years, the State Intellectual Property Office, the people's Court of the people's Republic of China and other departments have severely punished and cracked down on acts such as malicious registration of trademarks, closely monitored all links of trademark registration, strictly examined all links such as examination, objection and cancellation, resolutely curbed abnormal applications such as malicious registration and hoarding of trademarks, and strengthened the protection of trademarks. This is not only the protection of the rights and interests of the parties and the protection of consumers' right to know, but also related to the benign development of the knowledge economy.

In September 2021, the CPC Central Committee and the State Council issued the outline for the construction of a powerful intellectual property country (2021-2035), which decided to build China into a powerful intellectual property country from 2021 to 2035. The protection of trademark intellectual property is an important part of building China into a powerful intellectual property country. It can be seen that the national efforts to protect intellectual property are increasing, and the work of intellectual property is also changing from pursuing quantity to improving quality. In a small way, both practitioners in the industry and ordinary groups should always tighten the string of copyright, respect copyright, and never touch the red line of copyright; Generally speaking, intellectual property protection, in addition to keeping the red line in mind, also requires us to move from "recipients" to "participants" and "builders".

(Xinhua News Agency)

Previous experience has taught us a truth: we must apply for trademarks quickly, accurately and ruthlessly. If we don't have time, we can entrust formal and professional trademark agencies to register trademarks in time. Although no trademark agent can apply for trademark registration, a trademark agent who is good at trademark retrieval and familiar with the registration procedure can save a lot of time for enterprises, ensure that the trademark applied for registration can be protected in the correct category of trademark use, avoid rejection and reply for absolute or relative reasons, and help formulate trademark strategies and determine the scope of protection. In addition, in the process of applying for a registered trademark, relevant practical suggestions and risk analysis can also be provided to deal with the review of the trademark office.

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