Research On Protection Of The Merchandising Rights And Interests Of Virtual Character Names

With the rapid development of China’s commodity economy,more and more attention has been paid to the recognition and protection of brand value.The phenomenon of free riding near famous brands is becoming more and more serious in the current situation of the lack of social credit system.More and more virtual characters are used in the commercial field,but the behavior of using virtual characters without the permission of the creator has caused many disputes between the creator and the user of the virtual characters.However,it is extremely difficult for virtual character creators to seek legal protection under the current legal system framework,and the contradiction of insufficient legal system is particularly prominent.The image of virtual character as a work can be protected by copyright law,but the name of virtual character is difficult to be protected by copyright law.However,for the name of virtual character,if it has a high reputation,it will also bring the corresponding business value and transaction opportunities,thus forming a new type of legitimate rights and interests that can be protected,which is called "merchandising rights and interests".Although the name of virtual character can be protected by trademark law in the form of registered trademark,there is still no clear provision on "merchandising rights and interests" in the trademark law.The provisions on Several Issues concerning the Trial of Administrative Cases of Trademark Authorization and Confirmation,which was implemented in March 2017,is the first time for the Supreme Court to include the well-known work name and the character name in the work in the prior protection of rights and interests in the form of judicial interpretation.On the basis of reference to the United States and Japan protection mode,the author combined with the specific cases in judicial practice,analyzed the legal an judicial protection of the merchandising rights and interests of the virtual character name,and expounds the limitations and shortcomings of the merchandising rights and interests of virtual character names under the protection of the current legal framework.Finally,the author puts forward some protection suggestions for improvement.This paper consists of four chapters:The first chapter is the basic theory of the merchandising rights and interest of virtual character.This chapter briefly introduces the definition,classification and characteristics of virtual character,analyzes the concept of merchandising rights and interests of virtual character and its name,and defines the object of this paper.The second chapter is the protection mode and reference of merchandising rights and interests of virtual characters in foreign countries.Taking the United States and Japan as the object of analysis and discussion.,the paper summarizes the characteristics and experience of the protection mode of merchandising rights and interests of virtual characters in the United States and Japan through comparative analysis,so as to provide reference for the protection mode or merchandising rights and interests of virtual character names in China,so as to promote the protection of merchandising rights and interests of virtual character names in China.The third chapter is the legal protection status and limitations of the merchandising rights and interests of virtual character names in China.This paper analyzes the status of the protection of merchandising rights and interests of virtual character names under the current legal system in China,and studies the specific protection modes of copyright law,trademark law and anti-unfair competition law in China based on specific cases in judicial practice.However,due to the characteristics of virtual character names,this comprehensive protection mode has rationality,but also has some limitations.The fourth chapter is the legal perfection of the merchandising rights and interest of virtual character names in China.Experience in other countries,on the basis of the comprehensive protection mode for various legal limitations,the author puts forward some suggestions to improve the protection of the merchandising rights and interests of virtual character names in the legal level and judicial practice level,such as whether a separate legislation protection and protected mode choice,especially the specific factors to be considered in the protection of the trademark law.