[Viewpoints of the Two Sessions] The threshold for trademark registration has been greatly reduced, but some companies have encountered "new troubles"
This newspaper, Beijing, March 7 (Reporter Yang Zhaokui, Beimengyuan) "The threshold for trademark registration has been continuously lowered, but malicious squatting has continued to occur, which has caused some enterprises to be troubled." This year's National Two Sessions, malicious squatting trademark issues attracted the attention of delegates.
In the face of the "new troubles" encountered by enterprises in trademark protection, the representative committee suggested that the crackdown on trademark violations should be further strengthened and the principle of trademark use should be strengthened.
"Malicious squatting of trademarks has occurred from time to time. Whether it is the names of martyrs, the names of well-known figures, social hot words, or the logos used by enterprises in the past, there are cases where a large number of squatting trademarks are used to seek illegitimate interests." The National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference Member and chairman of Tao Ranju Group Yan Qi said.
"As an electrical brand that was awarded a 'well-known trademark' in the 1990s, 'Delixi' has been fighting against infringements such as 'Famous Brands' since its registration." Representative of the National People's Congress and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Delixi Group Hu Chengzhong said, "Many trademark applicants deliberately apply for registration of similar trademarks. Even if they are rejected, they will not lose much. Once the registration is successful, the profits will be huge."
"In 2021 alone, the Trademark Office of the State Intellectual Property Office will handle 481,500 malicious trademark registration applications that are not intended for use." Fan Yun, deputy to the National People's Congress and president of the Shanghai Trademark and Brand Association, said bluntly that malicious squatting and other illegal trademark registrations One of the reasons for the frequent occurrence of trademark registration applications is the low cost and low threshold for trademark registration applications.
"Taking a paper application for trademark registration as an example, before 2013, the fee per piece was 1,000 yuan, in October 2013 it was adjusted to 800 yuan per piece, in October 2015 it was adjusted to 600 yuan per piece, and now it is adjusted to 300 yuan per piece , you do not need to submit evidence of use when applying for trademark registration." Representative Fan Yun said that the low cost and low threshold have led to the continuous emergence of malicious trademark registration applicants for the purpose of seeking improper interests.
"Malicious cybersquatting infringes upon the rights and interests of prior trademark owners, and also harms the interests of the public." Representative Fan Yun said that in order to prevent "squatting", some companies had to conduct a large number of defensive registrations and trademark monitoring, which undoubtedly increased the The cost of maintaining trademarks of enterprises consumes a lot of administrative resources.
Regarding the "new troubles" encountered by enterprises in the field of trademark protection, member Yan Qi suggested that the crackdown on trademark violations should be further strengthened.
At the same time, in the trademark registration application review process, the requirement to submit evidence of use or evidence of use intention is added to strengthen the concept that the meaning of a trademark lies in use.
Representative Fan Yun also suggested that the principle of trademark use should be clarified in the Trademark Law. According to this principle, applicants are required to provide evidence of trademark use in the trademark registration application process, when the trademark registration has reached 3 years, and trademark transfer and renewal. Reduce or even eliminate the phenomenon of malicious squatting of trademarks from the source.
"In addition, establish a negative list or data for malicious registration, and standardize the rules and procedures for adding and removing the list. For trademark registration applicants that have been opposed or invalidated many times, they will be included in the negative list or database of trademark registration, and repeated registration, The assigned trademark is identical or similar to the unregistered or invalid trademark.” said Fan Yun, the representative.