Conflict Coordination Between Geographical Indications And Geographical Name Trademarks

With the development of commodity society and the increasingly fierce competition of products,the use of geographical indications to protect the origin and quality has become the choice of more and more regional collective agricultural cooperative organizations.After the revision of the "PRC Trademark Law," the use of collective marks and certification marks began to protect geographical indications,and the agricultural authorities and the General Administration of Quality Supervision,Inspection and Quarantine issued separate methods and administrative regulations to protect geographical indications and geographical indications.However,the application and protection of geographical indications has only just begun in comparison with the tens of thousands of applications for domestic trademarks each year.Therefore,it makes sense to make some small contributions in the field of geographical indication products.The conflict of geographical indications in China first stems from the overlapping jurisdiction of different administrative departments on geographical indications.Compared with trademark rights only registered and protected by the Trademark Office,the protection of geographical indications is more extensive.When China introduced this system,it also referred to two distinct system designs for the protection of geographical indications under the special law adopted by the European Union and the use of the trademark law for the protection of geographical indicationsin the United States.This led to the simultaneous existence of two different systems in China.Three different administrative departments produce three types of geographical indication protection.At the same time,some articles on the protection of geographical indications are also distributed in different laws and regulations.There are also certain contradictions in the application of judicial interpretations issued in succession.The Supreme People's Court's “Provisions of the Supreme People's Court on Several Issues Concerning the Trial of Trademark Licensing and Definitive Administrative Cases” and the relevant specific provisions in the Beijing Municipal Higher People's Court,“Guidance Notes on Administrative Cases of Trademark Authorization and Verification,” conflict.There is an adverse effect on the protection of geographical indications and geographical names trademarks.Looking at the coordination of conflicts between geographical indications and geographical names in international agreements,the provisions of this issue in international treaties also appear to be relatively vague.This aspect is due to the fact that geographical indications have not been able to get the attention of countries in the past.On the other hand,the conflict between geographical indications and geographical names trademarks has to some extent impaired the rights of trademark holders.Countries that respond to the protection of geographical indications outside the domain and damage trademark rights in the domain are also reacting differently.Due to our country's protection of geographical indications,some of the applicable principles are also controversial.For example,whether the contrast between geographical indications and geographical names trademarks applies the principle of confusing possibility,and whether it is possible to approximate the two trademarks,there is controversy in the previous general comment.Here the author put forward some of his own suggestions.First of all,it should be clear about the concept of conflicts between geographical indications and geographical names trademarks,determine the prior timing of prior rights,and the goodwill and reputation of previously registered trademarks.Secondly,whether or not geographical names trademarks will cause consumers to confuse the origin and quality of goods should be considered.At the same time,the conflict between two legal rights should be avoidedby considering the similarity between geographical indications and being compared with trademarks.For trademarks that do not have the possibility of confusion and there are differences between trademarks,the coexistence agreement can determine the respective scope of use of the two legal rights in the future.Finally,the role of trade associations in this issue should be taken into account in the administration.Coordination of geographical indications and geographical names trademarks in the same region before litigation is required.In legal terms,the qualifications for the registration subject of such conflicting trademarks and the criteria for the possibility of confusion of trademarks should be clearly defined.This article first introduces the concept of geographical indications and introduces the expressions of conflicts and the causes of internal conflicts.Then compare the coordination of EU and international treaties on this issue.Finally,the issues that need to be considered when dealing with conflicts and some of their own suggestions are presented.