Research On The Recognition Of The Distinctiveness Of Sound Trademark

After the third amendment in 2013,the Trademark Law of China recognized the registrability of voice trademarks.The law has been amended for nearly ten years,but so far,the number of voice trademark registrations in our country is not much.To some extent,the rules about the significance of sound trademarks hinder the development of this institution.The existing research on the distinctiveness of sound trademark has reached a consensus,and to further improve the recognition of the distinctiveness of the standard.However,there is still a great controversy on whether to recognize the inherent distinctiveness of sound trademarks.In practice there are the following some problems.First,the limits of universal sound and functional sound are unclear.Second,the review factors are unclear,including the absence of inherent significance judgment and the unclear criteria for obtaining significance in significance review.Third,ignore the relevant public perception.Therefore,the sound trademark system has not realized its proper function.As one of the important ways of transmitting information,sound is obviously important and extensive in the transmission of goods and services.People’s ability to recognize sound is no less than that of visual identification.Giving voice trademarks too high a registration requirement over traditional types of trademarks is not conducive to responding to the needs of the trademark market.Therefore,it is necessary to make clear the inherent distinctiveness,and refine the identification criteria of inherent distinctiveness and acquired distinctiveness.The external judicial practice to the sound trademark inherent distinctiveness and obtains the distinctiveness the cognizance method,may also serve as the reference in our country related practice domain.Based on the basic theory of sound trademarks,the status of sound trademarks administrative confirmation and relevant judicial cases,this paper makes a deep study of the distinctiveness of sound trademarks.In the aspect of inherent distinctiveness,this paper demonstrates the necessity and feasibility of identifying the inherent distinctiveness of a sound trademark.It’s also suggested that the consideration factors of sound trademark inherent distinctiveness should be improved by prohibiting the registration of Universal Sound,functional sound and prescribing the time for the registration of Sound trademark.In terms of achieving salience,the author proposes to improve the review method of acquired distinctiveness from several aspects,such as refining the standard of examination and recognition of the distinctiveness of acquisition,attaching importance to the system of consumer investigation report,and determining the distinctiveness of the whole judgment of sound trademark.