Legal Analysis Of Sound Trademark Identification Case Of Tencent

The third trademark law amendment includes the sound trademark into the protection of trademark law system.If the sounds want to be registered as the trademark the sounds must undergo the two key links of distinctiveness identification and functionality identification.The sound trademark identification case of Tencent just gives us a chance to fully understand the distinctiveness and functionality.The sound registered as a trademark must have distinctive features.The distinctiveness of sound trademark is not the same as that of traditional trademark.The intrinsic distinctiveness and acquired distinctiveness of sound trademarks should be distinguished and identified in a logical order.Non-functionality principle is one of the most important principles of the sound trademark and the sounds which have been registered as the trademark must be the sounds which don't embody the functions,usages and characteristics or they will impede other product manufacturers to produce the same products and violate the principle of fair competition.Therefore,a sound which has been approved to register as the trademark must boast the distinctiveness and don't belong to the functional sound.In practice,there are disagreements over the identifications on the distinctiveness of the trademark of the sound and the difficulties often emerge when the non-functionality of the trademark of the sound is concretely identified.In view of this,the author thinks that we can use the enumeration mode to summarize the types which don't boast the distinct sounds and use the negative approach to eliminate the categories which boast the functional sounds and divide the identification scope for the related appraisal subjects so as to correctly approve the registration and let the sound trademark obtain good development in China.