Judicial Cognizance Of Trademark Infringement

The standard of judging trademark infringement has gone through the development process from the single standard of "trademark approximation and commodity similarity" to the double standard of "trademark approximation,commodity similarity and possibility of confusion".Trademark approximation and commodity similarity are the prerequisite and formal conditions for judging trademark infringement,while the possibility of confusion is the purpose and substantive condition for identifying trademark infringement.However,if approximate trademarks do not lead to confusion among consumers,whether the relevant approximate trademarks can coexist is a new topic worthy of study.In the case of Caidiexuan trademark disputes,the plaintiff and the defendant have disputes about trademark approximation,similar goods or services,whether consumers have the possibility of confusion,whether the defendant has the right of prior use,whether the trademarks of both sides can coexist.Understanding the focus of disputes,analyzing the application of law,it is suggested to abandon the standard of "confusing approximation" for trademark infringement,and to judge objectively whether trademark approximation is similar to goods and services,and to judge whether there is possibility of confusion centered on relevant consumers.The judgment of the time when a trademark has "certain influence" in its first use is strictly limited to the time when the trademark owner obtains the registered trademark.It is undoubtedly a feasible scheme to deal with trademark infringement cases and to balance the legitimate interests of all parties to allow trademarks to coexist under certain conditions when trademark approximation,goods or services are similar,but relevant consumers are not confused about the source of goods.