Discussion On The "Other Adverse Effects" Term Of Trademark Law

"Other adverse effects" is a term of the existing Trademark Law Article 10,paragraph 1(8),which is counted as the miscellaneous provisions of the reasons of banning the trademark registration in Trademark Law.Whereas,this term is an extremely general rule,so it has uncertainty on both theory and practice.In recent years,though Opinions of the Supreme People’s Court on Several Issues Concerning the Administration of Trademark Authorization makes certain explanations on "other adverse effects",the controversy among the courts,the Trademark Review and Adjudication Board and the trademark applicants still exists on juridical practices,this shows that the term still to be perfected.The entry points of this thesis are the typical cases about the "other adverse effects" term in recent years,and the thesis will analyze the property of the "other adverse effects" term from different views.The first part of this thesis will analyze the problem of using the "other adverse effects" term and the significance of studying this term by analyzing three typical cases which are highly disputable: the "MLGB case",the "Wechat case" and the "Li Xingfa case".The second part will first analyze the function and value of trademarks,and the legislative aims of Trademark Law,then point out the legislative aim of the "other adverse effects" term—to protect the public interests,then point out the case of easily misleading the public is not the sufficient condition of the "other adverse effects" term,and finally analyze the effect of the "other adverse effects" term—to prevent a logo from being used as a trademark.The third part will first point out that the "other adverse effects" term is the miscellaneous provision of Trademark Law Article 10,paragraph 1(8),then analyze the relations and differences between this term and the "prior rights""malicious registering" "deceptive marks""geographical indications" and the "geographic name marks" terms,to point out the scope of application of the "other adverse effects" term.The last part will point out the considerations of using the "other adverse effects" term.The factors which are considered are the meanings and inscapes of the trademarks,the cognitive levels of the relevant publics and the time nodes of judgment— the examining date.The factors which are excluded are the subjective faults of the applicants,the significance and popularity of the trademarks,the specific civil rights and interests in the trademarks and the actual damages to the public interests.Meanwhile,whether the subject conditions are considered depends on the concrete situations.