Research On The Rules Of Trademark Use In China From The Perspective Of The Newly Revised Trademark Law

Trademark use runs through the entire lifecycle of the trademark,affecting the entire process of acquiring,maintaining,infringing,and invalidating trademark rights.The current Trademark Law in China also has a relatively clear definition of trademark use rules.However,due to the development of economy and other reasons,the current Trademark Law is difficult to meet the needs of reality.The lack or loopholes of the law have brought many negative consequences to the market-oriented response of trademark use,which in turn has caused great waste of time,money,and judicial resources for trademark registrants or victims of infringement and the society.This paper aims to conduct a comprehensive study of the improvement of trademark use rules from the aspects of trademark registration,maintenance,infringement litigation,etc.,focusing on the current institutional situation in China’s Trademark Law,which emphasizes trademark applications but weakly enforces practical implementation,as well as the issue of strengthening trademark usage rules in the latest revision draft(consultation paper).The research will cover various aspects such as trademark registration,maintenance,and infringement litigation.Firstly,with regard to the legislative orientation of "heavy registration and light use" in the process of trademark acquisition in China’s Trademark Law,this paper proposes to revise the rules of trademark use in three aspects:clarifying "intentional use," restricting"registration without use," and regulating "prior use but not registered." This will improve the systemic legislation of trademark use rules,limit trademark registration chaos such as"malicious registration" and "land grabbing."Secondly,with regard to the unclear provisions of the intent of trademark use during the trademark maintenance stage in China’s Trademark Law and the easy generation of malicious litigation,this paper proposes to draw on the "objective facts+presumption" rule of the U.S.Trademark Law in dealing with such issues.Suggestions and measures include limiting the purpose of trademark use,increasing restrictions on the restoration of use,clarifying the deadline for submitting usage declarations and evidence,and strengthening the supervision of trademark use to improve trademark use rules during trademark maintenance.Thirdly,with regard to the unclear provisions of trademark use as an element of trademark infringement in China’s Trademark Law and the unclear rules for recognition,this paper proposes to further establish a unified standard for the recognition of"trademark use,"clarify "trademark use" as an element of infringement,regulate the terminology of"trademark use," improve legislative provisions for "trademark use," and strengthen the rules of evidence time limit for "trademark use" to strengthen trademark infringement judgments based on trademark use rules.Finally,this study also suggests considering strengthening the supervision and regulation of trademark agencies in the development of trademark use rules,establishing other measures such as the China Intellectual Property Lawyer Association,and establishing a "safe barrier" of diversified,multi-level,and comprehensive trademark use rules.