The Research On The Protection Of The Merchandising Right Of The Well-known Image

In a modern society with the up growing market economy, every element that has the economic interests may be conferred on the commercial and application of color to business sectors. Because of the affinity of the well-known image, dealers always find ways of these images from the original non-commercial application to the commercial field, to promote the sales of their products. And since then the commercial value of theses famous images will be realized. This is what is called well-known image of commercial.As a result of this new type of movement, a new type of right came out. The new right is defined as merchandising right in the field of law theorists. Merchandising right is a range of broad concept which refers to the subject of rights will be able to develop and apply those appealing and influential images of public figure, virtual characters, famous works' title, the role names of film which belong to non-commercial areas to a second development and application to business, so as to create an exclusive right that can achieve the purpose of promoting sales via meeting the public demands. Merchandising right has its corresponding original right, however, it comes out of the original right, but is also different from that.Merchandising right is an intellectual property rights that parallels with copyright, trademark, patent. The object of merchandising right can meet the request of intellectual property rights and it also has the same characteristics of intellectual property, such as:the non-conflicting of the natural use of the form exclusive, invisible, regional, timing. China's existing law neither explicitly issued merchandising right as an independent right, nor other adaptable laws to effectively protect the new rights.When infringement of merchandising rights occurred, mostly it was solved separately by personality rights, copyright, patent, trademark and so on. There is no defined, direct applicable form of legal protection in judicial practice available. However, merchandising right is an independent right which is different from the existing rights, this special law protection mode exists various defects, it can not protect such new rights—merchandising rights thoroughly. To offer merchandising rights effective protection, we need to improve the existing law, making it the independent rights stipulated in the intellectual property rights, and identify their specific contents to be protected, so as to give the subjects of merchandising rights' legal interest comprehensive and effective protection. The protection to the merchandising right of the well-known image can not only protect the subjects'and consumers'interest, but also make for the maintenance of the market competition order.