A Study Of The Legal Issues On Trademarks Of Geographical Names

After having undergone the first, second and third instances, the case of the trademark of geographical name "Bai Jia Hu" got its final judgment. The problems that brought by the case, however, have not been settled. The case itself is not complicated. The twists and turns of the case are primarily due to the deficiency of the regulations and the lack of the corresponding rules of domestic trademark law. The debating point of "Bai Jia Hu"case is whether the act of the defendant is regarded as infringing on rights or rational. The rules of national trademark law neither accord with the current international practice as to the affirmation of the infringement of trademarks, nor prescribe regulations for the rational apply of trademarks, which arouse numerous problems of the judicial practice. Meanwhile, the national trademark law for trademarks of geographical names such as "Bai Jia Hu" differs from international laws. Therefore, a large number of geographical indications that original belong to public resources have been registered as trademarks. Focusing on the identification standard of the infringement of trademarks, the rational use of geographical names and the registration of trademarks of geographical names, this thesis analyzes the problems existing in our national trademark law reflected by the case of "Bai Jia Hu" and proposes some suggestions on the perfection of domestic trademark law through comparison with the legislation and judicial practice of U. S. and other countries. This thesis includes the introduction, the body and the conclusions and the body is divided into four parts.Part one gives a detailed analysis of the cause, the process, and the focus of the"Bai Jia Hu"case. On the basis of the analysis, it points out the problems existing in the domestic trademark law.Part two is the research on the possibility of the registration of trademarks of geographical names. The case of "Bai Jia Hu"mirrors the deficiency of domestic trademark law on trademarks of geographical names. In this part, the author introduces the legislative stipulation of other countries, explores the factors that restrict the registration of trademarks of geographical names, points out the international prevailing conditionsr allowing registering; on geographical trademark names, and finally puts forward the author's opinions on how to improve our country's trademark law regarding the trademarks of geographical names.Part three mainly discusses the identification standard of the infringement of trademarks. It first gives a description of the regulations of our trademark law on trademark infringement and its judicial practice. The "Bai Jia Hu"case highlights the defects of that standard. Then, it introduces the identification standard of foreign trademark infringement and points out that"the possibility of confusion" is employed as the evidence of trademark infringement based on that standard. The author also makes some legislative proposals on China's identification standard of the trademark infringement, and does analysis of the case with confusion theory.Part four is the exploration of the rational use system of trademarks of geographical names. By indicating that the case"Bai Jia Hu"exposes the missing system of the rational use of geographical trademark names of our trademark laws and its serious consequences and introducing the foreign legislative conditions of the rational use of geographical trademark names, the thesis gives some legislative suggestions on China's rational use system of geographical trademark names, and makes analysis of the case from the perspective of the rational use.