Research On The Fair Use Of Geographical Indications Trademark

Geographical indications(GIs)are signs that a commodity originates from a certain region,and the specific quality,credibility or other characteristics of the products are basically dependent on natural or humanistic factors in the region.According to the provisions of China’s current law,approved specific groups,trade associations or other organizations may register GIs as trademarks by applying for certification of trademarks or collective trademarks and obtain the right to exclusive use of trademarks.Users need permission from the trademark owner to use the GI-trademark.As a collective right,according to common sense,products that meet the conditions for using GIs can be marked with the GI-trademark.However,in practice,due to the restrictions on the conditions of "authorization" or "enrollment",not all users who meet the conditions of GIs can obtain the right to use.This creates a conflict between the exclusive right to use GI-trademark and the use needs of other producers.For producers who are not authorized but meet the conditions of GIs,they should be allowed to make fair use of GIs to meet their reasonable interest demands.This paper systematically introduces the contents of GI-trademark,analyzes the conflict of interest between the trademark owner and other producers caused by the operation of the trademark right of GIs,and then points out the necessity of fair use in the protection of GI-trademark.At the same time,by introducing the historical evolution and current situation of the protection of GIs in China,it is pointed out that the three sets of protection systems in China have caused rights conflict and overlapping protection in parallel,which has caused inconvenience to the exercise of rights of trademark owners and the fair use of others.On this basis,this paper points out the problems in the fair use of GI-trademark in China,and provides resolutions for the improvement of the fair use system of GI-trademark in China by combining with the experience of the protection of GIs and the limitation of rights.