The Substantive Examination Standard Analysis Of Sound Mark

New revised trademark law in our country involves sound as a trademark element to register, henceforth sound mark comes into the public view in China. Sound is protected as trademarks by the trademark law in developed countries for a long time, while in our country sound was explicitly written in the trademark law as a nontraditional trademark for the first time in August 2013.According to the author’s understanding after visited the website of the state administration for industry and commerce, although the state administration for industry and commerce has enacted standard of sound trademark acceptance and review, but it has not released to the public. Trademark office has made relatively clear rules for the formal examination of sound mark, but for the substantive examination standard it only makes a general explanation. Looking around the world, although the difference of the formal examination standard of sound mark between countries is slight, the standard tends to be stable. While for the substantive examination standard of sound mark, there is not yet existing an impeccable paradigm for us to refer to. Because of this, the author chooses the substantive examination standard of sound mark as his paper topic, aiming to perfect the theory of the substantive examination standard of sound trademark.This article first introduces the basic knowledge of sound mark, then compared with the distinctiveness of traditional trademark so as to reveal its uniqueness. For the distinctive examination standard we will focus on inherent distinctiveness and acquired distinctiveness. Then the article mainly analyzes the judicial practice of sound mark in developed countries(the United States, the European Union, Canada and Australia) which giving intellectual property a strong protection. From discussing the distinctiveness of the trademark to expatiating on the distinctive examination standard of sound mark in several countries, summing up the substantive examination standard of sound mark for China to refer to. The article also canvasses the substantive examination standard of sound mark in three aspects: one is the distinctive features examination, the second is the use of censorship, the third is examination of identical and similar features. Then the author will give his own viewpoint. Moreover, the multidimensional perspectives of sound mark will be introduced in this article.We will have a brief introduction of the physical properties of sound and sonic branding to illustrate the superiority of the sound and the potential economic value of the sound mark. We will also pay attention to the formal examination of sound mark while canvassing the substantive examination standard of sound mark. By doing so to help readers understand the legal system of the sound trademark registration and examination comprehensively.