Regulations Of Trademark-Related Gray Market In The US And Countermeasures For Chinese Companies

Gray market is a hot issue in international trade, as well as in intellectual property protection. This article analyses the causes that contribute to gray market and illustrates that gray market phenomenon is a result of the speeding globalization of international trade. Then it examines the advantages and disadvantages of gray market from the perspectives of the trademark holders, authorized distributors and consumers respectively. The article further probes into the legal nature of gray market, and finds that there exist different opinions in this regard and no consensus has been reached at the international level.This article focuses on trademark-related gray market in the US. As we all know, increasingly the US and China are economically independent. On the one hand, while many Chinese companies use the trademarks which are registered US trademarks, it is likely that gray market problems are to arise where the products bearing US- registered trademarks are exported to the US. On the other hand, Chinese companies that sell products to the US market or establish ventures in the US are possibly to be involved in the gray market issue when using the same trademarks. It is thus important to study the US legal framework concerning the gray market issue.An analysis of the US legal framework shows clearly that the legal framework in question is very complicated, involving the Tariff Act,Customs Regulation and Lanham Act etc,. The overall trend of the US attitude towards gray market has become more and more restictive. The reason behind is protecting benefits of US trademark holders. According to these laws and regulations, the interested party can seek various remedies through the Customs, International Trade Commision or the US courts.It is noted that in this regard, Chinese companies can adopt various countermeasures according to different situations. Chinese companies need to take measures to avoid US trademark holders' accusation while using foreign trademarks. Moreover, companies are supposed to take advantage of the US rules to protect their own trademarks.