Definition And Legal Protection Of Trademark Parody

In today’s society,trademark is not only a symbol of the origin of goods and services,but also a symbol of a certain social culture.The cultural attribute of trademark makes it a carrier for the public to exchange and express ideas.At the same time,it also becomes a new type of parody material favored by market entities.When parody outcomes flow into the commodity or service market,trademark parody may lead to legal risk.In order to accurately evaluate the nature of parody in the trademark law,and reduce the chilling effect of the threat of litigation from the holder of the parodied trademark on the humorous comments against the trademark,this paper starts with the concept of trademark parody,analyzes the type of trademark parody,and studies and judges the classic cases of countries with relatively in-depth research on the legal protection of trademark parody abroad,and further demonstrates the legal nature of trademark parody in trademark infringement theories,and then puts forward operable suggestions to improve the legal protection level of trademark parody on the basis of clarifying the deficiencies in the legal protection of trademark parody in China.In addition to the introduction and conclusion,the paper is divided into four parts:The first part introduces the concept of trademark parody and the current situation of the protection of trademark parody in Chinese judicial practice.Firstly,we can accurately define the concept of trademark parody based on the parody of works,and divide trademark parody into two types according to the different ways in which the parodies use the original trademark’s cultural meaning,including symbolic use and trademark use.Secondly,based on the cases involving trademark parody in judicial practice,the author conclude the problems in trademark parody protection,such as the lack of legislation,the deviation in the identification standard and the imperfection of the infringement exclusion rules and so on.The second part examines the classic cases of trademark parody abroad and summarizes the experiences available for our country.The rigorous trial path and comprehensive demonstration process of the courts of the United States reflected in the "Louis Vuitton Malletier v.My Other Bag " case and " Louis Vuitton Malletier v.Haute Diggity Dog " case have important reference value for our judicial organs to handle relevant disputes.The recent decision of the Italian Supreme Court on the " Zorro Trademark " case responded to the protection of trademark parody from the perspective of the characteristic of parody and the conditions of parody protected by trademark law.The Korean court pointed out that trademark parody must have a clear parody intention in the case of Louis Vuitton Malletier v.The Faceshop.In the third part,the trademark parody is analyzed in the theory of trademark infringement in order to clarify the justification basis of the protection of trademark parody.The particularity of parody requires that appropriate adjustments must be made to the roles played by various factors that affect the process when determining the nature of trademark parody.It can be found that the trademark parody with obvious comments or satirical effects will hardly cause the possibility of confusion.As long as the parody trademark is not associated with things that clearly violate public order and good customs,the significance of the parody trademark will not be diminished.The fourth part puts forward targeted suggestions on the problems existing in the legal protection of trademark parody in China.Firstly,we should clarify the constituent elements of trademark parody,including the purpose of parody,taking well-known trademarks as the object of parody,and presenting obvious parody effect objectively.Secondly,it is suggested that the exclusionary rules of trademark parody infringement for symbolic use can be established in judicial practice,and it’s necessary to delineate reasonably the boundaries of anti-dilution protection for well-known trademarks.The effective protection of trademark parody for trademark use can be provided by integrating the " parody " elements into the judgment process of the possibility of confusion and possibility of dilution of damage.Finally,it is suggested to clarify the thinking path from a macro level that judicial authorities can follow when hearing trademark parody cases in order to ensure the fairness and comprehensiveness of the judgment results.