Research On The Recognition Of The Generic Names Of Geographical Indications

The identification of generic names of geographical indications is an important issue in the protection of geographical indications.At present,China adopts the mixed mode of trademark law and special law to protect geographical indications.In the present situation of legislation in China,the recognition of generic names of geographical indications is not perfect,which is reflected in the application of the recognition standard of generic names of trademarks to judge the generic names of geographical indications.The generic name of geographical indication is ambiguous in the special law,which leads to the problem that geographical indication is easy to be identified as the generic name.In judicial practice,the standards apply to specific region of geographical indication is unreasonable,commonality and apply to specific regional standard is based on specific regional relevant public subjective judgment of whether geographical indication is the generic name,for the objective relationship between geographical indication and the origin of a product,so that there is not the accuracy of generic names;The confusion of generic name and peculiar name of geographical indication causes peculiar name to be recognized as generic name.In view of the above problems of the generic name of trademark and generic name of geographical indication,the author traces back to the origin and makes a comparative analysis of the nature of geographical indication and trademark.Firstly,compared with trademarks,geographical indications have the characteristics of collectivity,pro-agriculture and regional cultural inheritance.Secondly,they have different directivity.Geographical indications point to geographical sources,while trademarks point to commercial sources.Furthermore,the principle of identifying the generic name of geographical indication is different from that of trademark.The loss of relevance of geographical indication is regarded as a generic name,while the loss of distinctness of trademark is regarded as a generic name.This paper analyzes the differences between the recognition of generic names of geographical indications and trademarks from the above theory.Then the author focuses on the historical and empirical comparative analysis on the international level of geographical indication protection.This paper summarizes and studies the articles concerning the generic names of geographical indications in international treaties,analyzes the negotiation and evolution process of the articles,and finds that the nature of the determination of the generic names of geographical indications is the conflict and balance of interests between economies at the level of international protection.Again for the represented by the European Union outside of the old world economies and represented by the United States economy in the new world of geographical indications generic names recognition system,clear of geographical indication protection in China is more suitable for the European Union model,especially on the generic names of should adopt a more prudent strict standards,provide better protection for geographical indications.Finally,the author puts forward some suggestions for the recognition system of common geographical indication names in China.In the legislative process,the recognition standards of generic names of geographical indications based on subjective relevance under the trademark law system and the recognition standards based on subjective relevance and objective relevance under the special law system should be clarified.In the judicial practice,some suggestions are put forward,such as reasonably restricting the standard of applying specific scope of generic names of geographical indications and introducing technical investigators to assist the identification of generic names of geographical indications.In view of the many factors for the recognition of the generic names of geographical indications,it is suggested to construct the factors for the recognition of the generic names of geographical indications with relevance as the core.In order to perfect the identification system of common geographical indication names in China.