Determination Of The Validity Of The Trademark Coexistence Agreement

A trademark coexistence agreement is a contract signed by the operator of goods or services to reach an agreement on the coexistence of similar trademarks based on the true expression of intention.The signing of the agreement not only concerns the interests of trademark owners,but also has an impact on the interests of consumers and the public interest.As a special type of trademark use,the private nature of trademark rights,freedom of contract,fairness and efficiency of trademark rights provide a theoretical basis for their application in China.There is no clear legal provision on trademark coexistence and trademark coexistence agreements in China,and its existence is only indirectly recognized in China through the flexible application of trademark conflict standards.Although through searching and analyzing cases,we can conclude a general tendency to gradually recognize the validity of trademark coexistence agreements,but there are still differences due to the lack of clear legal guidance.Foreign research on coexistence agreements predates domestic ones,and has formed a relatively complete system.There are mainly two modes of effect,absolute and relative,and it is appropriate to apply the relative validity model in China.Under the premise of recognizing the relative validity model of trademark coexistence agreements,the validity of trademark coexistence agreements should be determined on the premise of avoiding consumer confusion.The Trademark Law clearly stipulates that the existence of the possibility of confusion is presumed to be the double identity of a trademark and goods or services,so it mainly discusses the effect of coexistence agreements when trademarks are objectively similar.At the same time,when determining its validity,the focus should be on analyzing whether the content of the coexistence agreement violates the mandatory provisions of the law on validity and whether it violates public order and good customs.Although the signing of the coexistence agreement means that the parties have reached an agreement,it does not mean that the content of the agreement will not violate the mandatory provisions of other laws and infringe on the public interest,and the validity of the trademark coexistence agreement should be comprehensively determined in combination with relevant laws such as trademark law and competition law.