Study On Temporary Restraining Order In Trademark

Compared with other civil procedures, temporary restraining order (TRO) has particular function on protecting the interests of trademark owners. TRO in Trademark offers an opportunity to gain an earlier relief to prevent irreparable harm. Since 2001, TRO has been introduced to trademark law through the judicial interpretation of the Supreme Court in china. However, there are some problems of the TRO, and the standard of TRO needs to be clarified.The thesis includes three parts: the preface, main text body, and epilogue. There are three chapters in the main text body. They are as follows:The thesis intends to find a reasonable legal procedure by analyzing the Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 65 in the USA, on which the TRO based. The thesis will also examine the standard applied by the Supreme Courts, the circuits Courts of Appeal, and even the district courts in the USA in trademark infringement cases.Chapter 1 examines the origin, character and the status quo of TRO that it was raising in international intellectual property treaties, especially such as the Article 50 in the TRIPS Agreement. The historical review shows that TRO in trademark cases is a type of preventive relief, and is a type of prohibitory injunction. Compared with other civil procedures, it has an unique role in the judicial protection for a trademark owner,because it can prevent a trademark owner from being infringe and stop trademark infringement at an earlier stage. The TRIPS Agreement adopted the specific relief, and established provisional measures.Chapter 2 analyses the Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 65, and finds that firstly a restrictive rule for the court's granting a TRO without notice could prevent abusing the TRO by the movant. Secondly, the court needs to examine the factors such as the probability of success on the merits, irreparable harm, balance of harms, and public interest, before it makes a decision on the TRO motion. Also the court needs to apply the balancing approaches including the sequential test, the alternative test, the balancing test, and to take many factors into consideration before the court decide whether or not to grant a TRO. The thesis attempts to seek a reasonable standard for the court to decide on a TRO motion.