What are the legal liabilities for misuse of trademarks or similar trademarks
Different When the law gives certain legal effects to trademark abuse, it will clearly stipulate its constituent elements, and the stipulated elements are not exactly the same. The abuse of trademarks defined in our country mainly refers to the three types of behavior stipulated in Articles 213 to 215 of the Criminal Law of the People's Republic of China (hereinafter referred to as the "Criminal Law"): Without the permission of the registered trademark owner , using the same trademark as its registered trademark on the same kind of goods; selling goods that are knowingly counterfeit registered trademarks; forging or making without authorization the registered trademark signs of others or selling counterfeit or making without authorization registered trademark signs.
From the "Trademark Law of the People's Republic of China" (hereinafter Judging from the provisions of Article 52 of the Trademark Law), in addition to the above-mentioned trademark abuses stipulated in the criminal law, there are three types of abuses: using the trademark registered by others on the same product without the permission of the trademark registrant. A trademark that is similar to another's trademark; using a trademark that is the same as another's registered trademark on similar goods without the permission of the trademark registrant; using a trademark that is similar to another's registered trademark on similar goods without the permission of the trademark registrant.
Using the same trademark is an act of counterfeiting, and using a similar trademark is an act of counterfeiting. The criminal law only criminalizes forgery but ignores counterfeiting, which is undoubtedly inappropriate. Because counterfeiting is basically a kind of counterfeiting, the difference between the two is only in degree. Complete imitation constitutes forgery. A similar counterfeit does not completely copy someone else's trademark, but only imitates the main part of it, with slight additions and deletions, making the two very similar, making it difficult for ordinary consumers to distinguish without paying special attention. There is no doubt that it is not related to counterfeiting in nature. Discrimination should also be punished with criminal law. In fact, the above three behaviors in the Trademark Law are quite common in practice, and their social harm is no less than the illegal use of the same registered trademark as others on the same kind of goods. Therefore, the specific manifestations of the crime of counterfeiting registered trademarks should not be too narrowly defined, otherwise it mayIt can weaken the protection of criminal law and condone crime.
"Details for the Implementation of the Trademark Law", "Provisions on the Administration of Trademarks in Foreign Trade" and "Several Issues concerning the Application of Law in the Trial of Civil Trademark Disputes" of the Supreme People's Court However, the Interpretation has provisions such as "sufficient to cause misunderstanding", "misleading the public", and "easy to cause confusion". The author believes that such a provision implies that legislators believe that illegal producers and sellers intend to deceive others, because only if they can "suffice to mislead the public" and "easily cause confusion" can the purpose of deceiving others be successful. But there is still a big difference between the two. Taiwan's criminal law focuses on elucidating the elements of a crime from the subjective aspect of the perpetrator, while mainland criminal law focuses on the objective perspective of the general public's understanding, which is easier to grasp. As long as the perpetrator uses counterfeit registered trademarks on goods or sells goods with such registered trademarks, or forges, manufactures or sells registered trademarks without authorization, causing objective confusion with "genuine goods", the criminal liability of the perpetrator can be pursued. It is obviously more feasible without having to explore the true intention of the perpetrator.
Trademark is the exclusive commercial mark of the owner. Abusing trademarks and similar trademarks is shameful and illegal. If you have other related questions you would like to know, please feel free to consult the free legal consultation of Legal Savior Network, which can help you answer your doubts.
