Research On The Legal Regulation Of Malicious Squatting Of Trademarks

Trademark malicious registering refers to an act by which a natural person,legal person or any other organization,in violation of the principle of good faith,applies to the trademark administration department for registration for a trademark that is used by others with a certain influence and is used first.The purpose of the act is to seize or unjustifiably exploit the market reputation of others,seek illegitimate interests,and damage the prior rights and interests of others;or encroach upon public resources and crowd out competitors.By registering the trademark of the prior user,the action seeks illegitimate interests,seize the consumer market,crowd out competitors,and even blackmail.The action seriously harms the legitimate interests of the users of the original trademark and consumers,the reputation of the trademark and the order of market competition.Generally speaking,there are two identification methods for trademark right acquisition in common law system and continental law system.The United States of common law system adopts the prior use identification method,while China and Germany of continental law system adopt the registration acquisition system.The phenomenon of trademark malicious registering mostly occurs in countries with the registration acquisition system,while in the United States which adopts the identification method of prior use,the phenomenon is rare.The provisions of the Trademark Law on malicious registering are not perfect.The Chinese trademark law does not give enough to the issue of trademark registering.The relevant regulations are not perfect and clear,the concept is vague,and the corresponding punishment measures are lacking.It is necessary to regulate trademark malicious registering in China,start with the current problems,and learn from international conventions and foreign legal practices.We should improve the trademark law,put forward specific operational measures,add a special regulation on malicious registering,and stipulate the definition,object,subjective malice,manifestation,regulation measures and punishment measures of malicious registering.We should add a "freeze period" for trademark transfer,and prohibit trademark transfer within a certain period for trademark registration.We will improve the regulations on the examination procedures for trademark registration by including in the examination procedures of the real intention to use the trademark,increase the administrative provisions on the use of the trademark,and require the registered trademark owner to report evidence of the actual use of the trademark on an annual basis.We will also increase the punitive provisions for malicious registering,etc.