Alienation And Regulation Of Well - Known Trademarks In China

The legal concept of "Well-known Trademark" firstly appeared in the "Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property."After several times of amendment, this article and "Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights" finally become internationally accepted standards of protection of well-known trademarks. It means these two articles provide cross-class protection to trademarks for goods and services after being identified as well-known trademarks, and the scope of protection is not limited to the same or similar goods or services trademarks. The unregistered trademarks can also enjoy the same protection.The development history of well-known trademarks protection in China has been more than20years since1980’s, and a lot of development and changes has been experienced during the decades. During the same period, some discordant factors such as well-known trademarks’alienation also appear, that is well-known trademarks have become a kind of honor and a target of interests to chase. Such phenomenon deviates from the original intention of this system and become a weird phenomenon unique to China.Firstly, the origin and definition of well-known trademarks is described in this thesis. It is pointed out that the well-known trademark is a combination of practical needs and system from the point view of its historical development, and the key to the protection of well-known trademarks is not how to define a well-known trademark, but how to identify a well-known trademark correctly and efficiently. After that, a review of the development course of well-known trademarks in China’s is given and an analysis of the nature and legal significance of the system of well-known trademarks is done. It is pointed out that the essence of the system of well-known trademarks is to stop infringement, unfair competition and protect the rights of holder of the well-known trademarks. And its legal significance lies not in the creation of a concept of the"well-known trademark, but to show that the trademarks which meet the standard of "well-known" trademark can enjoy special protection. Furthermore, the well-known trademarks protection system protects both private rights and public interests, its’internal mechanism is to ensure the realization of the value of public and private, balance the interests of all parties, and ultimately achieve fairness and justice.In chapter two, the origin and the meaning of alienation is described, and a brief analysis of the well-known trademarks alienation and the harm of such alienation in China is made. In chapter three, a detailed analysis of the reasons why the alienation of well-known trademarks appears from the four aspects of the institutional, political, economic and social is made. And the aim of such analysis is to explore the real causes of the alienation of well-known trademarks. After that it is pointed out that China’s administrative and judicial authorities have adopted a number of measures to deal with the alienation of the well-known trademarks, but failed to completely reverse the trend of well-known trademarks alienation.Finally, the author propose recommendations and measures in the following four areas, including establishing a correct concept of well-known trademarks, regulating local government administrative action and canceling government support, standardizing the enterprise’s use of well-known trademarks, improve the existing well-known trademark protection system. And among them, the most important thing is to establish a correct concept of well-known trademarks, and eliminate the misunderstanding of the well-known trademarks. And with the help of these measures, it is hoped that the trend of well-known trademarks alienation will be reversed and the original intention of this system will be regressed.