The Balance Of Interests Between Trademark Prior Application And The Latter Use

In recent years,economic entities’ emphasis on the trademark increases with the development of economy.However,the controversial practice of " first applicationism " in current trademark field in mainland China is likely to result in dispute.When a trademark is in the process of being reviewed for registration,but is made well-know publicly by a latter user with good will,the prior applicant’s application will be affected.As a result,conflicts will arise between the original applicant and the current user.This paper focuses on one of the top ten intellectual property cases in mainland China in 2015,the “WeChat”case,which is of great research value,by mainly addressing three issues:(1)the effects caused by the latter user on the stability of public awareness and public interest;(2)the application of “adverse effect” Clause and(3)the relationship between prior application and the latter use of trademark.This paper mainly employs the research methods of literature analysis,case analysis,and comparative study.Besides,solutions have been put forward.This paper is divided into four parts.The first part is an introduction of the case.The second part discusses the relationship between public interest and the stability of public awareness raised by the latter user,the application of “adverse effect” Clause and the relationship between prior application and the latter use.In the third part,a comparison of public interest and the influences of the latter use of the good-willed latter user is conducted and a conclusion has been drawn that the stability of public awareness consolidated by latter use of trademark is a type of public interest.The fourth part investigates the application of“adverse effect” Clause to the “WeChat” case by analyzing the scope,connotation and applicable dilemma of the "adverse effects" clause,and points out the inappropriate application of “adverse effect” Clause in this case.The fifth part studies the relationship between the prior application and the latter use.The last part provides the conclusion of the whole paper.