On The Implied Trademark Reverse Passing-off And The Legal Regulation

The case of implied reverse passing off of registered trademark which happened in 2003 was the first one in the history of China. In that case, Rugao Printing Machinery factory accused Rugao Yide Goods and Material LLC of implied reverse passing off of registered trademark. The forth term of fifty two article in Trademark Act which is revised in 2003 sets that changing the registered trademark of a product and inputting it into market without the permission of the trademark registrant is explicit reverse passing off and it is a trademark infringement act but it doesn't involve the implied reverse passing off about wiping off the trademark and selling it without a mark on it. Finally, the court made a conclusive judgement according the anti-unfair competition law. Because the related law regulation is not perfect, there isn't a unitive conclusion so far to the nature of implied reverse passing off and the application of law on this problem.In the foreign countries, especially in America, the theory and legal precedent of implied reverse passing off are developed, the proposition of the problem of implied reverse passing off was earlier, and the related theory research are maturer. So when we research the problem of implied reverse passing off, we can learn from the related theory and the research achievement of those countries, e.g. the America properly, and comprehend the setting of the practice of the foreign administration of justice and the process of the formation of the theory, which will be of great advantage to the perfection of the research of the related theory and the legislation and the administration of justice.There are five parts in this paper. The first part was leading to the problem of implied reverse passing off through the first case of implied reverse passing off in our country, and put forward the disputed focus and the main problem reflected.The second part mainly introduced the definition of implied reverse passing off, and mainly analyzed the developing state of the domestic and foreign theories, which was the bedding of the following discussion of implied reverse passing off.The third part introduced the concept and the key component of implied reverse passing off. The nature of implied reverse passing off was analyzed emphatically, and the meaning of the determination of the nature and the punishment of implied reverse passing off will was clarified. This part is the emphasized one in this essay.The forth part analyzed simply the method of regulating the law of implied reverse passing off abroad, which will be the reference of the perfection of the related law in our country.The fifth part introduced the present state of the regulation of implied reverse passing off in our country and put forward the suggestions on the perfection of the related legislation and administration of justice.