[Explanation] Wuchang rice, West Lake Longjing, Korla fragrant pear... In recent years, as more and more geographical indication products have entered people's lives, the phenomenon of rubbing geographical indication trademarks has also increased.
What are the misuse of GI trademarks?
On the occasion of the 22nd World Intellectual Property Day, the judge introduced common infringement scenarios.
[Explanation] A Shanxi merchant prominently used the word "Wuchang" on the packaging of the rice sold, and was later sued by the Wuchang Rice Association.
According to the judge, the merchants failed to prove that the rice they produced and sold met the specific quality of "Wuchang Rice", nor did they go through the prescribed application procedures with the right holder, so they were found to be infringing.
[Concurrent] Zhang Yanyan, Judge of the Fourth Civil Court of Beijing Xicheng Court
According to Article 57 of the Trademark Law, without the permission of the trademark owner, the use of the same or similar logo as the registered trademark on the packaging of the goods, which may easily lead to confusion of the source of the goods, is an infringement of the registered trademark right.
(Merchant) prominently uses the word "Wu Chang" on its own packaging without authorization, and this prominent use is to be considered as infringement.
[Explanation] When selling goods online, improper setting of keywords will also constitute infringement.
[Concurrent] Zhang Yanyan, Judge of the Fourth Civil Court of Beijing Xicheng Court
A businessman in Hebei sells pears from Hebei, but in order to attract consumers to buy, he uses "Korla fragrant pears" when setting keywords in his product introduction link. In this case, consumers When you want to buy Korla fragrant pears, you will enter a keyword, and the link will pop up immediately, which increases the exposure of the product and increases the potential benefits of the operator.
In the end, the court found that (the merchant) constituted infringement of trademark rights, and was also sentenced (sentenced) to economic compensation and suspension of use.
[Explanation] To protect geographical indication trademarks, on the one hand, we must strengthen the crackdown and punishment on infringement, and on the other hand, we should prevent the use of geographical indications to "touch porcelain" for profit.
[Explanation] In 2021, the Tongguan Roujiamo Association will sue more than 200 snack bars, fast food companies, etc. to the court on the grounds of "infringing trademark rights", requesting the other party to dispose of all advertisements and signboards involving the words Tongguan Roujiamo in the store. Removed, and compensated for losses and paid litigation fees. The litigation area involved Inner Mongolia, Henan, Zhejiang, Tianjin and other provinces and cities.
[Explanation] In response to this, the Supreme People's Court responded that geographical indications are regional public resources, and the registrants of collective trademarks of geographical indications should be local groups, associations or other organizations that are not for profit.
If individual associations and organizations use the collective marks of geographical indications to obtain franchise fees, etc., there is no basis in the Trademark Law, and the people's courts will not support them in accordance with the law if they file a lawsuit with the people's court to collect the franchise fee.
[Explanation] The Supreme People's Court has also issued corresponding judicial interpretations to prevent the abuse of intellectual property rights for some "touching porcelain" lawsuits that they know do not have a legitimate rights basis, seek illegal interests, infringe on the legitimate rights and interests of others, or damage others' legitimate business interests.
[Concurrent] Li Jian, Deputy Chief Judge of the Third Civil Division of the Supreme People's Court
The Supreme People's Court issued the "Reply on the Defendant's Request for Compensation for Reasonable Expenses on the Grounds of Abuse of Rights by the Plaintiff in Intellectual Property Infringement Litigation", which supports claiming reasonable expenses from abusers, guides the parties to exercise their right to sue in good faith, and curbs the abuse of rights and malicious intent in the field of intellectual property. litigation behavior.
For the large-scale acquisition of copyrights and the so-called "rights protection" based on this, increase the review of the basis of substantive rights, accurately grasp the criteria for identifying repeated lawsuits, and prevent the use of rights protection in the name of making profits.
Reporter Shan Lu reports from Beijing
Responsible editor: [Ji Xiang]