What is the conflict between trademark and business name?

Both trademarks and corporate names are commercial signs. The former is used to distinguish goods and services from different sources, and the latter is used to distinguish companies, organizations and individuals as different market entities. What are the forms of conflict between trademarks and business names? Please follow the editor of Legal Savior Network to learn more below.

What are the forms of conflict between trademarks and corporate names

Conflicts between trademarks and corporate names include many forms: 1. The other is to use someone else's registered trademark as part of the Company name (trade name), resulting in a conflict between the earlier trademark rights and the later company name rights; the second is to register and use someone else's business name, especially the trade name part, as a trademark, forming a prior registration The conflict between the right of the enterprise name and the right of the trademark registered later; in the third case, the trademark registered earlier by others is registered as part of the enterprise name, and the enterprise name (trade name) registered earlier by others is registered as a trademark. Create cross-conflict.

Trademarks and corporate names are both commercial signs, the former It is used to distinguish goods and services from different sources, and the latter is used to distinguish companies, organizations and individuals as different market entities. The conflict between a trademark and a business name generally refers to the situation where the objects (trademarks or business names) directed by these two legal rights have the same or similar forms of expression, but the subjects of the two are inconsistent. Because the company name consists of four parts: the administrative division of the company's location, trade name, industry or business characteristics, and organizational form. Among them, the names of administrative divisions, industry and business characteristics, organizational forms, etc. are all common titles. In most cases, it is mainly the trade name (trade name) in the company name that may conflict with the expression of another person's registered trademark. This article does not make a strict distinction between trade names and trade names. When discussing the conflict between a company name and a trademark, the terms conflict between a trade name or a trade name and a trademark are sometimes used.

1. Causes of conflicts between trademarks and corporate names

Judging from the causes of the conflict between trademarks and corporate names, there are both normal collisions and malicious hitchhiking.

As far as normal collision situations are concerned, it generally means that the person who later registered the company name or registered the trademark did not know that others had already used the same words as The use of trademarks or company names. This situation is caused by many reasons. First of all, due to the restrictions on the use of Chinese characters, Chinese is not like Western languages ​​that can create characters casually, and companies often want to use complimentary words as company names or trademarks. The range of word options is limited, and this conflict is objectively unavoidable.

As for malicious hitchhiking, it generally means that the perpetrator knows that a certain word is a trademark or trade name previously registered by others and uses it as his own trade name or trademark to engage in the same or similar business activities. , in order to confuse consumers or the relevant public, and to obtain illegal benefits. At present, in the conflict between corporate names and trademarks, this is the main cause of legal disputes.

2. Nature of conflict disputes between trademarks and corporate names

Conflict disputes between trademarks and business names, judging from the nature of the infringer's behavior, mainly rely on legal forms Infringement of other people's goodwill manifests itself as causing consumers to confuse and misunderstand the source of goods or services and the relationship between different operators. Generally, it is an unfair competition dispute, and the "General Principles of the Civil Law" and the "Anti-Unfair Competition Law" should be applied 》Adjustment; using words that are the same or similar to others’ registered trademarks as corporate trade names alone or prominently on the same or similar goods, which is likely to cause misunderstanding by the relevant public, is a violation of the Trademark Law and infringement.Violate the exclusive rights of others’ registered trademarks.

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