A Research On Application Of Punitive Damages In Trademark Infringements

With a rapid global economic growth,the importance and the value of the trademarks in the market economy stands out day by day.To strengthen the protection of the trademarks as well as to multiply the amount of damages against the trademark infringements have been a focus of importance in making trademark laws.In 2013,the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress(NPC)revised the Trademark Law and accomplished the zero legislative breakthrough of punitive damages in the intellectual property area by incorporating for the first time the punitive damages against the acts of trademark infringements.In 2019,the Standing Committee of NPC again modified the Trademark Law on the base of the 2013 edition,altering the multiples of punitive damages from one to three times in 2013 to one to five times and raising the sum of punitive damages from three million to five million.The enactment manifested the determination of the country to intensify the intellectual property protection,to constrain the malicious tort,to encourage the fair competition and to maintain the normal order of the socialism market operation.In regard to Article 63 of the Trademark Law,even revised for two times,its principle still remains general.Its content,its application condition and etc.lack of clarity in the judicial practice.There are difficulties in confirming the actual loss of the obligee by the torts,ascertaining the interests and the trademark license fee obtained by the infringer,collecting evidence and so on.Therefore,how to better apply the theory into practice is a suspending issue that must be settled in order to punish and constrain the trademark infringements and as a result the law's original intention to establish the punitive damages against trademark infringements can be realized.For this reason,the research work related to the application of the punitive damages against trademark infringements in our country should be greatly enhanced.Firstly,the author investigated the theorical basis and the revolution of the punitive damages system against trademark infringements and sorted out the practical and academic foundation of the punitive damages against trademark infringements so as to clarify the nature,character and function of the punitive damages againsttrademark infringements and further on to discuss the punitive damages system against trademark infringements from various perspectives such as the necessity,the feasibility and the prospect to conclude that the system is the adaptation of the our country's economy and social development.Secondly,by exploring relevant cases,the author analyzed obstacles in specific application of the punitive damages system in our country which includes vague application conditions,poor operability in base figure for calculation,difficulty in collecting evidence and etc.Moreover,it will put emphasis on analyzing the case of Company Xiaomi VS Company Povos and Company Dulingfengsao on trademark infringements and summarize lessons on application of punitive damages against trademark infringements.Finally,the author will bring forward suggestions on how to define subjective malice,how to improve the way in ascertaining the base figure for calculation,on furtherly regulating burden of evidence and etc.for the sake of perfecting domestic application of punitive damages against trademark infringements.