What is the interpretation of the Supreme People's Court on several issues concerning the applicable law in hearing trademark civil dispute cases
Article 1 The following acts are registrations for others as stipulated in Article 52 (5) of the Trademark Law Behavior that causes other damage to the exclusive right to use a trademark:
( 1) Prominently using words that are identical or similar to others’ Registered trademarks as the company’s trade name on the same or similar goods, which may easily cause misunderstanding by the relevant public;
(2) Copying, imitating, or translating a well-known trademark registered by others or its main part on different or dissimilar goods Use as a trademark to mislead the public, resulting in possible damage to the interests of the registrant of the well-known trademark;
(3) Register words that are the same as or similar to others’ registered trademarks as domain names, and use the domain namesE-commerce transactions of related commodities may easily lead to misunderstandings among the relevant public.
Article 2 is based on Article 13 of the Trademark Law According to the provisions of paragraph 1, if someone copies, imitates, or translates a well-known trademark or its main part that has not been registered in China, and uses it as a trademark on the same or similar goods, which is likely to cause confusion, he shall bear civil legal liability to stop the infringement.
Article 3 The trademark use license stipulated in Article 40 of the Trademark Law includes the following three categories:
(1) Exclusive use license means that the trademark registrant allows only one licensee to use the registered trademark within the agreed period, region and in the agreed manner. , the trademark registrant shall not use the registered trademark according to the agreement;
(2) Exclusive use license means that the trademark registrant licenses the registered trademark to only one licensee during the agreed period, region and in the agreed manner. The trademark registrant can use the registered trademark according to the agreement but may not Separately license others to use the registered trademark;
(三) Ordinary use license means that the trademark registrant allows others to use its registered trademark within an agreed period, region and in an agreed manner, and can use the registered trademark on its own and permit others to use its registered trademark.
Article 4 Trademark Law Article 53 Specified interested parties, including registered trademark licenseThe licensee of the contract, the legal successor of the property rights of the registered trademark, etc.
When the exclusive right to use a registered trademark is infringed, The licensee of an exclusive use license contract may file a lawsuit in the People's Court; the licensee of an 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; general use license The licensee of the contract may initiate litigation if expressly authorized by the trademark registrant.
Article 5 Trademark registrant or interested party If an application for renewal is submitted during the extended extension period for a registered trademark, and before it is approved, a lawsuit is filed against others for infringement of the exclusive right to use the registered trademark, the People's Court shall accept the application.
Article 6: Infringement of exclusive rights to registered trademarks The civil litigation filed shall be under the jurisdiction of the people's court at the place where the infringement is committed, the place where the infringing goods are stored or seized or seized, and the defendant's domicile as stipulated in Articles 13 and 52 of the Trademark Law.
The storage place of the infringing goods specified in the preceding paragraph, It refers to the place where infringing goods are stored or concealed in large quantities or regularly; the place of seizure and seizure refers to the place where customs, industry and commerce and other administrative agencies seal and detain infringing goods in accordance with the law.
Article 7 determines the place where different infringement acts are committed For a joint lawsuit filed by multiple defendants, the plaintiff may choose the jurisdiction of the People's Court where one of the defendants' infringement was committed; for a lawsuit filed only against one of the defendants, the People's Court of the place where the defendant's infringement was committed has jurisdiction.
Article 8 The relevant public referred to in the Trademark Law refers to consumers related to a certain type of goods or services identified by a trademark and other operators who are closely related to the marketing of the aforementioned goods or services.
Article 9 Trademark Law Article 52 The trademarks specified in Item (1) are identical, which means that compared with the plaintiff's registered trademark, there is basically no visual difference between the trademark accused of infringement.
Trademark similarity stipulated in Article 52(1) of the Trademark Law means that the trademark accused of infringement is the same as that of the plaintiff Compared with other registered trademarks, the glyphs, pronunciations, meanings of the characters, or the composition and color of the graphics, or the overall structure of the combination of its various elements are similar, or the three-dimensional shape and color combinations are similar, which may easily cause the relevant public to have doubts about the source of the goods. Misunderstanding or believing that its source has a specific connection with the goods with the plaintiff’s registered trademark.
Article 10 The People's Court shall, in accordance with the provisions of Article 52 (1) of the Trademark Law, determine that trademarks are identical or similar in accordance with the following principles:
(1) Based on the general attention of the relevant public;
(2) It is necessary to conduct both an overall comparison of trademarks and a main comparison of trademarks. For partial comparisons, the comparisons should be carried out separately with the comparison objects isolated;(3) To determine whether a trademark is similar, the distinctiveness and popularity of the registered trademark requested for protection should be considered.
Article 11 Article 52 (1) of the Trademark Law Similar goods refer to goods that are identical in terms of functions, uses, production departments, sales channels, consumer objects, etc., or that are generally believed by the relevant public to be specifically related and likely to cause confusion.
Similar services refer to the purpose of the service, Services that are identical in content, method, object, etc., or that are generally considered by the relevant public to have a specific connection and are likely to cause confusion.
Goods and services are similar; There is a specific connection between them, which may easily confuse the relevant public.
Article 12 The People’s Court shall, in accordance with Article 1 of the Trademark Law According to Article 52 (1), to determine whether goods or services are similar, a comprehensive judgment should be based on the general understanding of the goods or services by the relevant public; "International Classification of Goods and Services for Trademark Registration", "Similar Goods and Services" The Differentiation Table can be used as a reference for judging similar goods or services.
Article 13 The People’s Court shall, in accordance with Article 1 of the Trademark Law When determining the liability of an infringer for compensation under the provisions of paragraph 1 of Article 56, the amount of compensation may be calculated according to the calculation method chosen by the right holder.
Article 14 Trademark Law 56 The benefits obtained from infringement as stipulated in paragraph 1 of the Article can be calculated based on the product of the sales volume of the infringing product and the unit profit of the product; if the unit profit of the product cannot be ascertained, the profit per unit of the registered trademark product shall be calculated.
Article 15 Losses suffered due to infringement as stipulated in Article 56 Paragraph 1 of the Trademark Law , can be calculated based on the reduction in product sales caused by the right holder due to infringement or the product of the sales volume of the infringing products and the unit profit of the registered trademark products.
Article 16 If it is difficult to determine the benefits gained by the infringer due to the infringement or the losses suffered by the infringed party due to the infringement, the People's Court may The amount of compensation shall be determined based on the request of the party concerned or the provisions of Article 56, Paragraph 2 of the Trademark Law shall be applied ex officio.
When determining the amount of compensation, the people's court shall consider the nature, duration, and consequences of the infringement, the reputation of the trademark, the amount of the trademark license fee, the type of trademark license, The time, scope and reasonable expenses to stop the infringement shall be determined comprehensively.
If the parties reach an agreement on the amount of compensation in accordance with the provisions of paragraph 1 of this article, it shall be allowed.
Article 17: Reasonable expenses to stop infringement as stipulated in Paragraph 1 of Article 56 of the Trademark Law, including investigation of infringement by the right holder or an agent entrusted by him , reasonable expenses for obtaining evidence.
The People’s Court shall decide according to the parties’ Depending on the litigation claims and the specific circumstances of the case, attorney fees that comply with the regulations of the relevant national departments can be calculated into the scope of compensation.
Article 18 The statute of limitations for infringement of the exclusive right to use a registered trademark is two years, calculated from the date the trademark registrant or interested party knows or should know about the infringement. The trademark registrant or interested party If the lawsuit is filed more than two years ago, if the infringement is still continuing at the time of the lawsuit, within the validity period of the exclusive right to use the registered trademark, the People's Court shall order the defendant to stop the infringement, and the amount of infringement damages shall be calculated from the date when the right holder files a lawsuit with the People's Court. Calculate forward two years.
Nineteenth If the trademark license contract is not filed, the validity of the license contract will not be affected, unless otherwise agreed by the parties.
If the trademark license contract is not filed with the Trademark Office, it shall not be used against a bona fide third party.
Article 20 The transfer of a registered trademark will not affect the validity of the trademark license contract that was in effect before the transfer, but the trademark license Unless otherwise agreed in the contract.
Article 20 Article 1 When hearing a case involving a dispute over infringement of the exclusive right to use a registered trademark, the People's Court may, based on the provisions of Article 134 of the General Principles of the Civil Law, Article 53 of the Trademark Law and the specific circumstances of the case, decide that the infringer shall be responsible for stopping the infringement and removing the obstruction. , eliminate dangers, compensate for losses, eliminate impacts and other civil responsibilities, and can also impose fines, confiscate infringing goods, counterfeit trademarks and materials, tools, equipment and other property specifically used to produce infringing goods. The amount of fines can be determined by reference to The relevant provisions of the "Regulations on the Implementation of the Trademark Law of the People's Republic of China" have been determined.
If the administrative department for industry and commerce has imposed administrative penalties on the same infringement of the exclusive right to use a registered trademark, the people's court will no longer impose civil sanctions.cut.
Article 22 The People’s Court is hearing trademark cases In dispute cases, based on the request of the parties and the specific circumstances of the case, whether the registered trademark involved may be well-known can be determined in accordance with the law.
To determine a well-known trademark, the trademark shall be determined in accordance with Article 10 of the Trademark Law The provisions of the four articles shall be carried out.
The parties concerned have been punished by administrative authorities or people’s courts If a recognized well-known trademark applies for protection, and the other party has no objection to the well-known trademark involved, the People's Court will no longer review the application. If an objection is raised, the People's Court shall review it in accordance with Article 14 of the Trademark Law.
Article 23 This Interpretation Relevant to Product Trademarks stipulations apply to service marks.
The relevant provisions before Article 24 are related to If this interpretation is inconsistent, this interpretation shall prevail.
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