Can malicious names such as "Zhong Nanshan" be rejected as a trademark?
Recently, the State Intellectual Property Office rejected 63 applications for registration of malicious trademarks such as "Zhong Nanshan", which caused concern. Why can't "Zhong Nanshan" be registered as a trademark by others? Can a person's name be registered as a trademark? Xu Chuanhan, assistant judge of the Asian Games Village Court of Chaoyang District People's Court of Beijing, interpreted this.
"The right to name belongs to the right to personality, but also includes economic benefits. The name of a celebrity is particularly prominent." Xu Chuanhan pointed out that the name of a public figure is closely related to the commercial value of the public figure itself, and the public can easily associate goods with the public figure. If the names of public figures can be registered as trademarks casually, there will be "free-riding" competition, disrupting the normal order of the market. Xu Chuanhan said, "First of all, public figures themselves or authorized by them, registered trademarks in public names are not in the scope of discussion. For example, Li Ning Sports (Shanghai) Co., Ltd., as Li Ning's legal representative, has registered 'Li Ning' on many types of goods. Zhuhai Gree Electric Co., Ltd., whose legal representative is Dong Mingzhu, registered 'Dong Mingzhu' and 'Dong Mingzhu's Store' as trademarks, and Lin Zhiling also registered his name as a trademark. "
Xu Chuanhan introduced that Article 10 of the "Trademark Law of the People's Republic of China" stipulates several situations in which it cannot be used as a trademark, and it is not clear whether a person's name can be used as a trademark, but in its first paragraph (8), it is clearly "harmful to socialism." "Morality or other adverse effects" shall not be used as trademarks.
Article 5 of the Supreme People's Court's "Regulations on Several Issues Concerning the Trial of Several Administrative Cases in Which Trademark Authorization Is Determined" stipulates that: if a trademark mark or its constituent elements may have a negative or negative impact on China's social public interests and public order, the people's court may determine that "Other adverse effects" as provided for in Article 10, paragraph 1 (8), of the Trademark Law. The application for registration of the names of public figures in the fields of politics, economy, culture, religion, nationality, etc. as trademarks is "other adverse effects" as mentioned in the preceding paragraph.
Xu Chuanhan introduced that whether a trademark can be registered with the name of a public person also needs to be considered in combination with the actual situation. For example, the name of Academician "Zhong Nanshan" is not only highly recognizable under specific time nodes and social circumstances, but also should be included in " The scope of "political, economic, cultural, religious, ethnic, and other fields" is within the scope of banned registration. The Trademark Office considers that its registration as a trademark is prone to adverse effects.
For the names of ordinary people, Xu Chuanhan introduced that Article 8 of the "Trademark Law of the People's Republic of China" stipulates that: any sign that can distinguish the goods of natural persons, legal persons or other organizations from the goods of others, including words, graphics, letters, numbers, Three-dimensional signs, color combinations and sounds, as well as combinations of the above elements, can all be registered as trademarks. The name of an ordinary person can be registered as a trademark, but if the name belongs to a mark that cannot be registered as a trademark as stipulated in the Trademark Law, it is necessary to specifically examine whether the entire article violates the prohibition clause. (CCTV reporter Li Wenjie)