How to legally protect a business name
Once a trade name is registered, the commercial entity owns the trade name Rights can be protected by law.
Trade name, also known as business name , is the name used by a commercial business entity when engaging in commercial activities, that is, the name used by a commercial entity to sign or let its agent use it to conduct business transactions with others when it is a legal act in a commercial transaction. As a representative symbol of commercial entities, trade names can not only distinguish different commercial entities, reduce and avoid confusion in transactions, but also play an important role in maintaining fair competition.
1. The scope of protection of the trade name. The scope of protection of trade name rights refers to the scope of effectiveness of trade name rights. Countries that stipulate that trade names must be registered only limit the protection of trade names to registered trade names. Within this scope, the owner of the trade name enjoys the exclusive right to use the trade name and can fight against third parties. In our country, according to the requirements of the "Enterprise Name Registration Management Regulations", all enterprise names need to be registered. It can be seen that our country only protects registered trade names.
2. Trade name infringement. The so-called trade name infringement refers to the behavior of competitors in the same area using the same or similar trade names of others for the purpose of unfair competition. The elements that constitute trade name infringement are as follows: (1) The subject of the infringement is a competitor in the same industry in the same area, except for well-known trade names. (2) The perpetrator must use the trade name of others. Only the use of other people's trade names can lead to the infringement of trade name rights. (3) The perpetrator uses other people's trade names The trade name causes the business of others to be misidentified. (4) The perpetrator must be intentional, that is, the infringer has the purpose of unfair competition subjectively. How to judge whether the infringer has the purpose of unfair competition? ? Generally speaking, the purpose of unfair competition can be proven based on the period when the infringer started using the trade name, the area of use, the way of use, and whether the public misunderstood or confused the business industry of the two. If others are in the same area, in If the same trade name is used in the same business, it is presumed that the other person has the purpose of unfair competition. At this time, the burden of proof switches and the burden of proof is borne by the other person. As long as he cannot prove that he uses the trade name without the purpose of unfair competition, he must stop Use this trade name.
3. Laws on trade name protection Regulations. To protect trade names, many countries adopt the method of protecting trade names together with the Commercial Law and the Unfair Competition Prevention Law, such as Japan. Although the commercial law and the Unfair Competition Prevention Law have similar protections for trade names, they complement each other. . Commercial law protects trade names based on subjective conditions, that is, the infringer of a trade name subjectively has the purpose of unfair competition, and the trade names it protects are not conditional on being well-known. The Unfair Competition Prevention Law does not protect trade names on subjective conditions, even if others are not If a trade name is used for the purpose of unfair competition, it can also be required to stop using it, and the trade name it protects is conditional on being well-known.
4. Regarding the protection of well-known trade names. A well-known trade name is a trade name that enjoys a high reputation in a certain area and is well-known to the public in transactions. A well-known trade name has been established over a long period of time Used, enjoy a high reputation, such as many trade names. As an intangible asset, a well-known trade name often embodies the operator's years of hard work and has greater potential value, so it is more vulnerable to infringement, and this infringement is not limited to The same type of business in the same area. Moreover, today's enterprises generally carry out diversified operations, and it is not uncommon for famous trade names to be used for different types of business. Just like the expanded protection of well-known trademarks, the protection of well-known trade names should also be expanded to prevent Others use the well-known business name "Bai Zuoche" (freeride), thereby causing the attractiveness of well-known companies to "dilute". The protection of well-known trade names cannot be limited to the same type of business in the same area, but should be expanded. The scope of its protection can extend beyond this area, and heterogeneous businesses in this area cannot use this well-known trade name. Only in this way can we truly protect those well-known companies.
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