Research On The Generic Term Under The Trademark Law

Though there are no legal bases to define the generic terms under the Trademark Law ofChina, it is important to resolve the disputes about trademark. The generic terms are used todistinguish the types of the commodities and the services by consumers. Because the genericterms are created by the consumers through a long term social practice and this produceprocession makes generic terms belong to public resources which can not be monopolied byanyone. There is a close relationship between the solution of the trademark disputes andcertifications of the generic terms. The trademark disputes hereof include trademarkregistrations, trademark oppositions, revoking trademark registrations and trademarkinfringement defenses. The generic terms are banned to be registered as trademarks. Theenterprises need to teach the consumers to understand the different meanings of the trademarksand the generic terms. Thereby, enterprises who have famous trademarks strongly need toestablish a correct brand strategy to maintain the distinctiveness of these trademarks intogeneric terms.Whereas there are still no uniform identification standards by authorities, so manyprocessing results made by the administrative departments and the courts are conflictive. Thecontradictions are focusing on the time, territorial scope, cognitive subject, and assize. The keyto solve these problems is to make clear of the essence of the generic terms. In fact, what theconsumers believe the symbols represent is one of the most important factors which we need tobe considered. If we deliberate on the problem from the perspective of the consumers, anycontradiction can be solved easily. There are specific consumer groups for all kinds ofcommodities and services.It is meaningless to dispute how to solve the problems hereof if wedo not think about the consumers. The scope of recognizing the generic terms and it of thedistribution of the consumers are consistent. Besides, the time, cognitive subject and territorialscope are all should be determined by the consumers. Publications could express the awarenessof the consumers, so it is value to be considered as references.The disputes about what Cabernet represents make us find that a long term trial procedure,somewhat, could be harmful for the enterprise to protect its right and make case become sodifficult to operate. In China, the identification organizations about the generic terms are theTrademark Office, the Trademark Review and Adjudication Committee and the courts. All of them should follow the same rules to recognize the generic terms.