A Study On Trademark Infringement Issues Of Foreign-related Original Equipment Manufacturing

The value added by China’s manufacturing industry accounts for nearly 30% of the global total,and the scale of the industry has ranked first in the world for 13 consecutive years.As a global processing center,China’s foreign-related customized card processing and trade is booming.However,there has long been controversy over whether the foreign-related original equipment manufacturing constitutes trademark infringement.Based on the differences of opinion on this issue,this article will conduct research and analysis,and propose suggestions on the adjudication of such disputes.This article adopts an empirical analysis method and,after retrieving relevant cases,analyzes three major disputes regarding trademark infringement in foreign-related original equipment manufacturing.Firstly,whether the act of attaching a label by domestic processing plants can be judged as trademark use is a question that requires discussion of the criteria for determining trademark use.This article analyzes the shortcomings of using the likelihood of confusion as the criteria for the former,and proposes that the two should be separate and independent elements,advocating the introduction of an objective + subjective standard to determine whether trademark use is established.This article believes that in the adjudication of trademark infringement lawsuits,trademark use should be regarded as a prerequisite for determining infringement,and the act of attaching labels by domestic processing plants should be deemed to constitute trademark use according to an objective +subjective standard.Secondly,whether the goods manufactured by the manufacturer have the likelihood of confusion is a question that needs to be judged based on specific cases.This article believes that a comprehensive examination of other factors,including but not limited to trademark similarity and similarity of goods,is necessary.Similarly,according to the legislative purpose of the trademark law,the likelihood of confusion should be regarded as a key element in trademark infringement disputes.Thirdly,whether it is necessary to consider whether the domestic manufacturer has fulfilled its duty of reasonable care is a judgment of whether the tortfeasor has subjective fault.This article believes that the liability for trademark infringement in foreign-related original equipment manufacturing should adopt the principle of strict liability,which means that when judging whether infringement has occurred,it is only necessary to focus on whether the tortfeasor has engaged in trademark use and whether the goods have the possibility of confusion,and there is no need to consider whether there is subjective fault.Therefore,in foreign-related original equipment manufacturing trademark infringement cases,it is not necessary to judge whether the domestic manufacturer has fully fulfilled its duty of reasonable care when accepting foreign-related original equipment manufacturing orders.To maintain the stability of the law and truly play the role of the law in settling disputes,the most urgent task is to clarify the concepts and criteria for determining trademark use and likelihood of confusion.The confusion between these concepts should be separated,so that the determination of trademark infringement in foreign-related original equipment manufacturing can return to the general principles of trademark infringement.