How to determine the nature of a trademark license contract

Trademarks are known as the "face of goods" and are an important part of a company's intangible assets. Today, with the globalization of the knowledge economy and fierce market competition, the issue of judicial protection of trademarks has become increasingly prominent. So how to determine the nature of a trademark license contract? The editor of Legal Savior Network will answer it for you below. Let’s take a look together!

How to determine the nature of a trademark license contract

According to the "Several Laws Applicable to the Trial of Trademark Civil Disputes by the Supreme People's Court" According to Article 3 of the Interpretation of Issues, trademark use licenses stipulated in Article 40 of the Trademark Law include the following three categories: exclusive use license, exclusive use license and general use license. If the licensing contract does not stipulate the licensing method or the stipulation is unclear, how to determine the nature of the licensing contract? Since different licensing methods will not only affect the substantive rights of the licensee, but also affect its litigation rights, it is correct It is of great significance to determine the nature of the license contract. The author believes that this situation should be regarded as an ordinary license, because from the perspective of evidence law, the existence of a licensing contract can only prove that the licensee can use the registered trademark, but cannot prove that the trademark registrant (licensor) has licensed other trademarks. The right to use the registered trademark and the right to use the registered trademark yourself are also transferred. Therefore, this situation can only be presumed to be an ordinary license with the smallest scope of rights among the three licensing methods.

In the event of infringement, the licensee of the exclusive use license contract may file a lawsuit with the People's Court; the licensee of the exclusive use license contract may file a lawsuit jointly with the trademark registrant, or may file a lawsuit on his own without the trademark registrant suing; ordinary The licensee of a license contract may bring a lawsuit if expressly authorized by the trademark registrant.

When the exclusive right to use a registered trademark is infringed, the licensee of the exclusive license contract can file a lawsuit with the People's Court. At this time, can the trademark registrant file a lawsuit with the People's Court? Does the court file a lawsuit? Some opinions believe that the trademark registrant has licensed the exclusive right to use the registered trademark to the licensee for exclusive use. If the trademark registrant files a lawsuit, the court should reject its request. The author believes that an exclusive license is different from a transfer after all, and the trademark registrant can still file a lawsuit with the People's Court.

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