Research On The Identification Of Sound Trademark

On May 1,2014,the sound trademark broke the requirement that a trademark must be"feasible" and became the first non-visible trademark approved for registration in my country.However,in the seven years ending on February 25,2021,only 820 sound logos have applied for registration with the National Trademark Office.What is even more regrettable is that there are only 42 successful registrations as sound trademarks in my country.A large number of applicants cannot be identified in a timely and accurate manner after submitting registration applications,thus falling into the fear of difficulty in application and registration.To get a glimpse of its roots,there are deficiencies or inconsistencies in the judiciary and administrative agencies’ identification basis and standards.For example,the "Trademark Examination and Trial Standards" that trademark reviewers mainly rely on when examining sound trademarks are only administrative documents.Some standards may violate the upper law and have no binding force on the judicial authorities.In addition,the examination requirements in this document,especially the generality,vagueness,and reality disconnection of the substantive examination requirements are extremely serious,causing trademark examiners to have great subjectivity and arbitrariness in actual examination work.The lack of relevant laws and regulations is also the reason why judicial organs have great difficulty in identifying sound trademarks in sound trademark confirmation cases.It can be seen that there are many problems in the legislation and practice of sound trademark examination and identification that need to be dealt with urgently.Especially when the mobile Internet brings a gluttonous feast to people’s hearing,it is increasingly necessary to pay more attention to the discussion of sound trademark identification.This article takes sound trademarks as the research object,based on the current situation and difficulties faced by sound trademark administrative review and judicial review in my country,and focuses on how to ensure efficient and uniform sound trademark confirmation as the fundamental purpose.Urgent and most prominent issues,and review and draw on mature legislation and practical experience outside the territory,combined with scholars’controversial views,and put forward their own perfect suggestions for the identification of sound trademarks in my country.In terms of specific content,this article uses related data retrieval and statistics,combined with the current legislative situation,and analyzes that my country is currently facing inherently distinctiveness and difficulty in determining rights when identifying sound trademarks;there is no standard for acquiring distinctiveness,and no basis for judgment;Difficulties in four aspects:universality,functional judgment,vague registration standards;identical and unclear similar examination standards.Studying and drawing on the legislation or practical experience of typical countries outside the territory,combined with the analysis of related disputes,proposed that the legislation needs to optimize the formal examination requirements,add new universal voices,and functional voice registration restrictions,and form the "Regulations for the Implementation of the Trademark Law."Proposals for the improvement of uniform applicable standards;procedurally,it is necessary to clarify the criteria for determining distinctiveness,improve the same and similar review judgments,and establish perfect recommendations for the establishment of a special review team,in order to help administrative agencies and judicial agencies effectively solve the difficult dilemma of sound trademark identification.