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Regarding malicious trademark registration applications, the State Intellectual Property Office will, as always, maintain a high-pressure stance of severe crackdowns, and seriously deal with applicants who violate the principle of good faith, maliciously preemptively register trademarks for improper interests, and their entrusted trademark agencies in accordance with laws and regulations .
□ Our reporter Zhang Wei
The crooked trend of maliciously squatting trademarks must be stopped.
But cute Ai Bing Dun Dun, domineering girl Gu Ailing and other popular Winter Olympics "top streamers", none of them can avoid the fate of being "smashed" and become the target of trademark squatting.
In this regard, the State Intellectual Property Office resolutely cracked down on the application for registration of relevant trademarks, and voluntarily declared invalid the relevant registered trademarks.
All kinds of squatting on celebrity hot words, such stories have never been "broken".
In the eyes of "savvy businessmen", everything is squatting.
Regardless of "Sanxingdui", "Quanhongchan" and "Changjin Lake", even at the beginning of the outbreak in 2020, when it was extremely urgent, some people were busy registering trademarks such as "Huoshenshan", "Leishenshan" and "Zhongnanshan". , In addition, squatting incidents such as "true and false tea and beautiful colors", "Chinese and foreign Harry Potter" and "Mo Yan's roast chicken" are also emerging one after another.
The reporter's inquiry found that there are even people who will apply for registered trademarks as the "comprehensive well-off" and "common prosperity" that the party leads the people towards a better life.
The reporter recently learned from the State Intellectual Property Office that the State Intellectual Property Office will, as always, maintain a high-pressure stance of cracking down on malicious trademark registration applications, and will treat applicants who violate the principle of good faith and maliciously preempt trademark registration for improper interests and their entrusted persons. Trademark agencies will be dealt with seriously in accordance with laws and regulations.
At the same time, malicious trademark registration applications have been included in intellectual property dishonesty.
From people to things, there will be traffic
Whenever there is a hot event, there will be a group of malicious squatters who "snoop on the wind" in an attempt to get a share of the traffic dividend.
A major event with huge traffic like the Olympics is naturally a piece of "fat" in their eyes.
The reporter learned from insiders in the trademark registration agency industry that before the start of the Beijing Winter Olympics, there were special people who studied the participating athletes to make predictions about the athletes who were most likely to win medals, and then scrambled their names in advance. Note.
In recent years, as the country has stepped up its crackdown on malicious squatting of trademarks, they have changed their tactics. For example, they have changed their names to the same name and registered them on the grounds of "registering their own name", so as to achieve successful "traffic" It can also avoid the purpose of punishment.
Take Gu Ailing as an example.
Gu Ailing won the championship in the women's freestyle skiing platform final at the Beijing Winter Olympics on February 8, but the word "Gu Ailing" was applied for trademark registration as early as June 2019.
The exact time is exactly 4 days after Gu Ailing himself announced through Weibo on June 6 that he will represent China in the Beijing Winter Olympics. The international classification involves education and entertainment, advertising sales, fabric sheets, etc.
According to this analysis, some professionals pointed out that the applicant's speculative psychology is more obvious, that is, betting on the potential commercial value of Gu Ailing.
Moreover, the classification scope of the trademark registered by the applicant has nothing to do with ice and snow items, and its pertinence and rationality are questionable.
Celebrities in all hot events are likely to be targeted.
On February 3, 2020, Liu Xian, a post-90s catering entrepreneur in Chengdu, set out from Chengdu with chefs and ingredients to "retrograde" Wuhan to make box lunches for medical staff.
If you don't have protective clothing, you can wear a raincoat instead, so it is named "Sister Raincoat".
While her touching anti-epidemic deeds have attracted national attention, many natural persons and companies have applied for the "Raincoat Sister" trademark in various categories.
Winning the battle against poverty and building a moderately prosperous society in an all-round way has even entered the "range" of squatters.
For example, as early as 2018, related trademark registration applications for "poverty alleviation" have appeared, and "comprehensive well-off" and "common prosperity" have also become hot words for trademark squatting.
Typical figures in poverty alleviation, such as Mao Xianglin, a veteran party member who was rated as "Moving China 2020" and "National Poverty Alleviation Model", together with the "Xiazhuang Tianlu" and other related trademarks he developed, have also been maliciously registered by many people.
The flood of bad reviews undermines fairness and justice
In fact, the legal evaluation and moral evaluation obtained by this kind of squatting are all negative.
Recently, the Market Supervision Bureau of Siming District, Xiamen City, Fujian Province filed a case to investigate and deal with an illegal act of maliciously registering the "Common Wealth" trademark, warned the parties and imposed a fine of 10,000 yuan, and imposed a fine of 5,000 yuan on the person directly in charge of the agency. .
For another example, in the case of "Sister Raincoat" being squatted, the State Intellectual Property Office wrote in the reason for rejection: Applying for "Sister Raincoat" as a trademark for registration without Liu Xian's own authorization is prone to misidentification of the source, which will cause significant social adverse effects.
"Sister Raincoat" has become a well-known symbol and label. It is not inborn or descended from the sky, but Liu Xian's life and death, regardless of compensation.
On the front line of the fight against the epidemic, she not only invested a lot of materials, but also invested a lot of energy and effort, effort and sacrifice.
"Sister Raincoat" was won by Liu Xian through her excellent role-playing, and this title is her deserved reward and encouragement.
Those who maliciously squatted trademarks want to "get it ready" without paying any cost. Once such a wishful thinking succeeds, it will inevitably damage fairness and justice.
The China Tobacco Control Association severely criticized after the "Tianyan", the most important weapon of the country, was applied for registration of the "Tianyan" trademark by a tobacco company in Yunnan.
Liao Wenke, vice president of the China Tobacco Control Association, pointed out, "This is not to pay tribute to science at all, but to touch the eyes of the sky and blaspheme science. Science aims to serve the sustainable development of human society, and smoking harms health is a well-known thing. How can the spirit of a scientist be used on tobacco that goes against a healthy China?"
Tao Jun, senior judge of the Intellectual Property Tribunal of Beijing Higher People's Court, believes that malicious squatting of trademarks undermines the basic function of trademarks to indicate the source of goods, seriously disrupts the market order and trademark registration order, and affects the fair and orderly business environment. Establish.
Specifically, such behavior damages the international image of my country's intellectual property protection, is not conducive to the implementation of the innovation-driven development strategy, and causes trademarks to deviate from their core values.
At the same time, malicious squatting of trademarks also seriously affects the normal business operation of honest operators, which not only makes it more difficult for other operators to successfully apply for registered trademarks, but also causes them to be harassed by complaints from malicious squatters of trademarks, making them tired to deal with them. Infringement Litigation.
On the other hand, in order to avoid the dilemma of being squatted on their own trademarks, many companies have embarked on the helpless road of registering the same trademark in multiple categories or even all categories, resulting in unnecessary waste of social resources and further aggravating the shortage of trademark resources. .
Severe crackdown on curbing speculation
In fact, the governance system for regulating malicious squatting of trademarks is improving day by day.
On April 23, 2019, the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress passed the decision on amending the "Trademark Law of the People's Republic of China", focusing on regulating malicious applications, hoarding registration and other behaviors and increasing penalties for infringement of trademark exclusive rights. Amendments to individual provisions have been made in the law.
The revised Trademark Law has been officially implemented on November 1, 2019. The new law strengthens the crackdown on malicious registration, strengthens the obligation to use trademarks, and clearly stipulates that "applications for malicious trademark registration not for the purpose of use shall be rejected", Penalties are also provided for malicious registration and malicious litigation.
The Supreme People's Court stated in April 2020 that the People's Court adheres to the value orientation of "trademarks are for use, not for speculation", and will not protect trademarks that maliciously squat and transfer for profit.
From malicious application to malicious transfer, full-chain governance is carried out, making malicious cybersquatting unprofitable.
Also in April 2020, the State Intellectual Property Office stated that it will continue to crack down on trademark hoarding and malicious registration, vigorously carry out the "Year of Trademark Examination Quality Improvement", further improve the examination and trial standards, regulate trademark agency behavior, and promote trademark examination and trial high levels. Quality development.
In March 2021, the State Intellectual Property Office implemented the "Special Action Plan for Combating Malicious Squatting of Trademarks", emphasizing that malicious squatting of trademarks seriously damages the legitimate rights and interests of market entities operating with integrity and the public, and seriously jeopardizes the order of trademark registration. Strict measures will be taken. crackdown measures.
In October 2021, the State Council issued the "14th Five-Year Plan for the Protection and Utilization of National Intellectual Property Rights", which clearly proposed to strictly regulate trademark registration, strengthen credit supervision and industry self-discipline, and severely crack down on malicious trademark registration and use not for the purpose of use. Acts of agency, and deal with relevant acts in accordance with laws and regulations.
In January 2022, the State Intellectual Property Office issued the "Regulations on the Administration of Intellectual Property Credit of the State Intellectual Property Office", which listed six specific acts as untrustworthy acts, including malicious trademark registration applications.
With the increasingly strict trademark examination and the more perfect related systems, it is believed that the space for trademark squatting and speculation will continue to be compressed, making it difficult to succeed.