Judicial Cognizange Of Trademark Parody Infringement

The original function of trademarks is to identify the source of goods.Its origin can be traced back to ancient times.At that time,craftsmen printed their signatures or "marks" on the works of art or practical products they created.Today,these marks have evolved into registered trademarks in the world.With the continuous development of commodity economy and the enrichment of social life,trademark has gradually been endowed with some social attributes.At the same time,its function is not only to identify the source of goods,but also has more social significance and rich cultural connotation.The artistic expression of trademark slip imitation came into being.Parody,this artistic expression originated from the field of copyright.In fact,it is an ironic imitation and a kind of critical literature.With the progress of society and the continuous development of commodity economy,this artistic expression is also emerging in the field of trademarks.Trademark parody is a humorous and ironic effect created by the imitator on the basis of well-known trademarks through a series of satirical,humorous or critical techniques and integrating the imitator’s own creativity.Although trademark parody embodies social freedom of speech,because parody is created or processed by the imitator based on the well-known trademark,there will be a series of conflicts between the protection of social freedom of speech and the protection of the interests of the trademark owner: on the one hand,the law should protect the imitator’s own freedom of speech and encourage the creativity of personal thinking,On the other hand,parody also poses a certain threat to well-known trademark owners.In recent years,due to the progress of modern science,technology and economy and the enhancement of people’s awareness of intellectual property rights,cases of trademark parody have emerged one after another and are common.Whether trademark parody constitutes infringement has not been clearly and specifically recognized in legislation.Due to the blank of legislation,the judicial practice lacks basis,and the judicial recognition standard of trademark parody infringement is impossible.This undoubtedly has a bad influence on the legitimate rights of trademark owners and the legitimate rights and interests of imitators and consumers.This paper will analyze the current trademark parody infringement and its related theoretical understanding,explore the confusion theory and dilution theory applicable to the current trademark infringement,clarify the current standards and defects of its judicial recognition,and investigate the provisions of the United States,the European Union and Japan on the judicial recognition of trademark parody infringement,which will have some enlightenment of reference value for our country,Finally,based on the above analysis,the author proposes some suggestions to improve the judicial identification of trademark parody infringement.