Research On The Legal Regulation Of Trademark Reverse Confusion

Trademark reverse confusion refers to the fact that the inferior trademark user of strong economic strength and market position,makes a great deal of publicity of the prior user's trademark,in order to drown the market reputation of the prior user.As a result,the relevant public mistakenly believes that the goods or service of the prior user come from the inferior user or have a special relationship with the inferior user.Trademark reverse confusion behavior is a kind of unfair competition behavior that is different from traditional trademark forward confusion in expression form,behavior motive,legal responsibility and so on.Based on the current law and judicial practice,this paper studies how to regulate trademark reverse confusion behavior.In addition to the preface and conclusion,this paper is divided into three chapters.The introduction introduces the research status and development trend of trademark reverse confusion at home and abroad,and makes clear that with the development of China's market economy,trademark reverse confusion frequently occurs in market competition,which requires legal response at the institutional level.The first chapter,starting from the "MK" trademark case,reflects on the problems in the legal analysis of trademark reverse confusion cases in judicial practice,and ponders the possible problems in trademark reverse confusion from the theoretical perspective.Finally,the paper introduces the necessity of regulating the trademark reverse confusion of behavior from the theoretical and practical aspects.The second chapter firstly expounds the legal provisions of trademark reverse confusion in China.Secondly,based on the current legal provisions,this paper analyzes the protection objects,constitutive requirements,legal liability and legal application of the trademark reverse confusion system.On the protection object,this paper defines the standard of distinctiveness of protected trademark.On the constitutive elements,the paper makes clear the problems and methods of proof that should be paid attention to when judging the relevant public confusion.In addition,it analyzes whether the subjective intention of the actor is the necessary condition for the identification of the trademark reverse confusion.On this basis,this paper analyzes the legal liability of reverse trademark confusion,including stopping infringement and compensating for loss.This paper clarifies the basis and possible problems of the application of the responsibility to stop infringement,and points out that this responsibility should be modest from the point of view of the principle of efficiency.Morever,this paper expounds the current situation and possible problems of the application of compensation liability.Finally,from the perspective of law application,this paper analyzes three theories concerning the relationship between trademark law and anti-unfair competition law,and puts forward my own views on the relationship between them.On the basis of the first two chapters,the third chapter puts forward its own suggestions on improving the trademark reverse confusion system in China.Firstly,from the point of view of the protection object of the trademark reverse confusion system,it is explained that the trademark with certain influence should be included in the regulation scope of anti-unfair competition law.Secondly,the paper expounds the constituent elements of trademark reverse confusion from such aspects as the identification of relevant public confusion,the subjective intention of the actor and the market position of the user of the trademark.Thirdly,given both efficiency and fairness,the paper analyzes the application of the liability for stopping the infringement and compensating for the loss.Finally,it makes clear how to apply the law if there is competition between the trademark law and the anti-unfair competition law when regulating the trademark reverse confusion behavior,so as to provide complete protection for the private interests of trademark owners and public interests.Based on the particularity of the trademark reverse confusion,this paper analyzes the protection object of the trademark reverse confusion system,the constituent elements and legal responsibility of the trademark reverse confusion behavior and the application of law,and then puts forward some suggestions for improvement.It is hoped that this paper can provide some useful thoughts on the norms of trademark reverse confusion behavior in judicial practice.