Study On The Extension Of Basic Trademark Registration

In the current competitive market environment,brand extensions are becoming an indispensable strategy for business expansion and inclusive development.Brand extension refers to the extension of an existing successful brand for new products,which requires the company to make appropriate changes to the non-significant parts of its original trademark,such as adding or deleting some elements,changing the arrangement of the original logo,etc.,in order to gain more competitive advantages for the relevant new products.In the field of trademark law,the extension of a basic trade mark is an issue,i.e.when the basic trade mark encounters the obstacle of an intervening trade mark in the process of extension,whether the special relationship between the basic trade mark and the extended registered trade mark,and the higher visibility of the basic trade mark through use,can make consumers less likely to confuse the extended trade mark with the intervening trade mark,so as to complete the registration of the extended trade mark.As an important form of presentation in the market operation activities of operators,the extended registration of basic trademarks can cater to the brand extension strategies of business operators,reduce the cost of repeated brand construction,enhance the effective use of existing trademark resources in an environment of scarce trademark resources;avoid confusion of consumers’ attention by scattered trademark information,reduce consumers’ search costs;promote free and orderly competition in the market At the same time to improve the efficiency of competition and promote social welfare,trademark law should actively incorporate the extension of basic trademark registration into its system.The extended trademark relationship is the basis for constructing and improving the theory and rules of the extended registration of basic trademarks,but the conditions for the establishment of the extended trademark relationship in practice are still debatable.From the perspective of consumer psychological cognition,the connotation of the extended trademark relationship is interpreted at the level of the trademark law system and theory,the essence of which is that the basic trademark enhances the distinctiveness of the extended trademark,and further improves the conditions for the establishment of the extended trademark relationship,thus resolving the conflict between the extended trademark registration and the principles of the trademark law,and making it feasible for the rules to converge with the trademark law.On the basis of the establishment of the extended trademark relationship,the criteria for judging whether an extended trademark can ultimately be granted registration in judicial practice all fall on the provisions of Article 30 of the Trademark Law,but the criteria for judging the standard within the judiciary and between the judiciary and the administrative organs are different,and the criteria for judging the standard in administrative review have not yet been clarified.The absence of a standard for determining the likelihood of confusion in the confirmation of trademark authorization is not only determined by the basic function of a trademark and the legislative purpose of the Trademark Law,but also by the internal consistency of unified legislation and judicial interpretation,and is more in line with the special nature of the extension of trademark relations.Although Article 30 of the Trademark Law provides the final judgment standard for the approval of the registration of an extended trademark,the determination of this standard is a process of rational deduction,rather than an objective and operative specification,therefore,in practice,there is confusion in the application of the examination rules on the likelihood of confusion and different standards.In order to unify the understanding of this standard and ensure the consistency of the application of the law,the special examination rules on the likelihood of confusion in the extension of trademark registration are refined in terms of the degree of similarity between the two trademarks,the factor of the popularity of the basic trademark and the subjective intention of the trademark applicant,with a view to providing a more complete and operable method for determining the likelihood of confusion in such cases.