The Protection Of The Benefits Of Users In The Trademark License Contract

It has been more than 30 years since the establishment of China’s trademark license system by the Trademark Law, issued in 1982. As a way for the trademark owners to enforcement their rights, the trademark license system has made a huge contribution to China’s economic development, but the theoretical attention paid to it is not close enough. The interests of the licensor are in accordance with or in contrast to that of the licensee. The trademark license system emphasizes the licensor’s responsibility for quality supervision, mostly focusing on the quality guarantee of the commodity and the protection of consumers’ interests. The articles just stipulate simply the rights and duties of the licensor and licensee, without making a balance between the interests of the two parties through control and regulation. Such stipulations are disadvantageous not only to the settlement of the disputes over trademark license, but also to the full exercise of the positive role of the trademark license system on economic development. Through the analysis of the controversial issues in the “Wang Laoji” trademark case, this paper makes a balance between the interests of the two parties of the trademark license, and tries to argue for the establishment of institutions to protect the interests of licensees in the trademark license contracts.The first part of this paper treats some basic issues such as the concept, meaning and classification of the trademark license system. The type of contract in the “Wang Laoji” case is analyzed. Corresponding to the distribution of rights and duties of the Guangzhou Pharmaceutical Group as the licensor, the question what rights and duties should be distributed to the JDB Group as the licensee is studied.The second part discusses the attribution of special package and decoration of well-known commodities. Basic concepts such as well-known commodities, package and decoration, goodwill are defined firstly, then the attribution of the package and decoration of the red-caned herbal tea is analyzed from various perspectives.After the expiration of the trademark license contract, the value of the trademark “Wang Laoji” rose significantly. Since the attribution of this additional value was not fixed in the license contract, how should it be distributed? The third part of this paper studies this question from several perspectives.The fourth part of the paper discusses the construction of institutions to protect the interests of the licensees of the trademark license contracts, trying to improve China’s trademark license system, protect the legal interests of trademark licensees, and promote the social and economic development.