| Parallel import is about products that are legitimately produced and marketed abroad with the consent of the owner of the trademark rights but are then imported into a country or territory without the agreement of that owner or of the exclusive licensee in the place of importation. Parallel import is not only an issue in the field of intellectual property; it also involves the matters about international trade and free competition. The legal disputes arise from the parallel import of trademark goods not only tell us whether the conducts infringe the right of trademark, but also manifest whether it constitutes unfair competition and infringes the rights and interests of consumers. Therefore, the discussion and research of the legal problems on parallel import shall be done not only from the angle of Intellectual Property, but also from the angles such as the protection of the rights and interests of consumers, the law on anti-unfair competition, the rules on international trade and etc, so that we can put forward more scientific and reasonable legal resolution.Part 1 mainly defines the concept, characters, and patterns of parallel import of trademark goods. Then,it sets forth the causes of parallel import of trademark goods in deep-seated angle including institute cause, legal cause and economic cause, of which the economic cause is thought to be critical.Part 2 and part 3 analyze the legal influences on parallel import of trademark from the angle of trademark law, real rights law, contract law and anti-unfair competition law. The conclusion is : Firstly,according to the trademark law, parallel import has no negative effects on the function of trademark, and it does no infringement on the right of trademark. Secondly, to the principle of real rights law, parallel import of trademark is of the legal conduct according to the ownership of the products, and the Flaw Guarantee Responsibility will effect the rights and obligations of the two parties. In the field of contract, the restriction on trademark license and international distribution license cannot forbid the parallel import of trademark goods effectively, but it can result liability for breech. Filing system is effective to give justice on suit rights in the case of parallel import of trademark goods.Part 4 reviews Parallel import of trademark goods with policy-oriented and economic-oriented study, and the conclusion is that the permission of parallel import of trademark goods is beneficial to China at present. Part 5 inspects view of Trips, as well as America and the Europe Union policies over the parallel import of the trademark goods, then the author put forward the principles and legal suggestions on improving the legal regulations over parallel import of trademark goods. |
