Reverse Passing Off In The View Of The Unfair Competition Law

Reverse passing off is a kind of unfair competition used in common law system. To study the development history of reverse passing off and its application is of importance for our legislation and jurisdiction. The federal courts of the United States usually judge reverse passing off under Section 43(a) of the Lanham Act and treat it as unfair competition. Furthermore, in different cases the cognizance standards are different. Chinese trademark law compasses the regulation on reverse passing off which is considered as a kind of trademark infringement, and only the registered trademarks owners can obtain remedies against reverse passing off. So the application scope about reverse passing off has been reduced in our country.In fact, when we introduced the concept of reverse passing off into our trademark law, we didn't correctly and comprehensively understand this theory. We neglected the difference between American trademark law and Chinese trademark law. For the potential harm of reverse passing off, we should regulate it thoroughly. At present, we can increase reverse passing off clause in the unfair competition law, and make some proper application rules about reverse passing off with the reference on American judicial practice to enhance its operation in our jurisdiction.