What are the legal protections for trade name rights
Once a trade name is registered, the commercial subject owns the right to the trade name and can Get the protection of the law.
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 a trade name infringement are as follows: (1) The subject of the infringement is a competitor in the same industry in the same region, excluding well-known trade names. (2) The perpetrator must be using someone else’s business name. Only using someone else's trade name can lead to infringement of trade name rights. (3) The perpetrator uses another person’s trade name, causing his or her business to be misidentified with others. (4) The perpetrator must be intentional, that is, the infringer must have 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 confirmed based on the period when the infringer started using the trade name, the area of use, the method of use and the publicity.Prove whether the public has misunderstood or confused the two business industries. If another person uses the same trade name for the same type of business in the same area, 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 falls on the other person, as long as he cannot prove that his use of the trade name is not unfair. For the purpose of competition, the use of the trade name must be stopped.
3. Legal provisions on the protection of trade names. To protect trade names, many countries, such as Japan, adopt a combination of commercial law and unfair competition prevention law. Although there are similarities in the protection of trade names under the Commercial Law and the Unfair Competition Prevention Law, 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 do 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 must be well-known.
The concept and characteristics of a trade name
Trade name, also known as commercial name, It 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 allow its agent to use it to conduct commercial transactions with others when performing legal acts in commercial transactions. 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.
The characteristics of a trade name include the following aspects:
1. A trade name is the name of a commercial business entity. A trade name is a sign that distinguishes different commercial entities. Generally speaking, a trade name is a symbol that distinguishes different business entities in the same place.In the same business in the district, different commercial entities should use different trade names. A trade name is different from a trademark, which only distinguishes products or services within a certain range. The legal protection of trade names is limited to the name of the trade name, and it does not protect the products of the trade name. However, there is also a certain relationship between trade names and trademarks. Some trade names are used as trademarks due to their long history and wide influence. For example, "Zhang Xiaoquan" Scissors Factory uses "Zhang Xiaoquan" as the trademark for scissors. Some trademarks are famous because of their high popularity. It is used as a trade name, such as "Coca-Cola" is used in the name of the manufacturer.
2. A trade name is a commercial subject in commercial transactions The name used. A trade name is a symbol used by a commercial entity to distinguish it from other commercial entities in its business operations. Its purpose is to avoid entity confusion and business confusion during the transaction process.
3. The trade name and the commercial subject are inseparable. A trade name cannot exist independently from the subject it marks.
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