(By?Luo?Yanjie)?Two?companies?with?a?great?gap?in?their?relative?strength?have?been?seen?battling?with?each?other?over?the?trademark?of?an?apple?image;?they?are?the?globally?known?Apple?Inc.?and?a?fruit?food?making?company?in?Zhuang?He,?a?small?city?of?China.?At?the?end?of?the?battle,?the?small?company?won?the?fight,?Dalian?Chenji?Guopin?Co.,?Ltd.?(the??Chenji?)?was?supported?by?the?authority?in?the?dispute?lasted?for?5?years.?The?dispute?was?triggered?by?Chenji?s?design,?which?consists?two?apples?overlapped?together,?and?the?Chinese?characters??????written?on?them.?In?examining?the?mark,?we?can?find?the?apple?resembles?that?of?Apple?s,?which?appears?to?have?been?bitten?by?someone.?For?this?reason,?Apple?filed?the?trademark?opposition?with?the?trademark?office.
In?March?of?this?year,?the?Trademark?Review?and?Adjudication?Board?(the??Board?)?of?the?State?Trademark?Office?judged?that?the?mark?of?Chenji?consists?of?two?apples?with?the?Chinese?character??????on?them;?furthermore,?the?gap?is?not?specially?designed,?but?made?simply?by?overlapping?the?apples.?Therefore,?taking?into?account?Apple?s?inadequate?amount?of?proof,?Chenji?s?application?was?approved.?So?far,?we?have?received?no?news?on?Apple?s?lawsuit?regarding?the?conflict.?How?then?could?the?world-renowned?brand?Apple?lose?this?battle??For?more?regarding?our?thoughts?on?this,?please?check?today?s?post.
I.?Apple?has?registered?no?defensive?trademark?in?the?Class?31?of?fruit?
The?most?direct?way?for?Apple?to?challenge?Chenji?s?application?is?to?claim?it?has?made?a?first?application?in?the?classes?involved.?As?checked?by?the?author,?Apple?did?make?its?trademark?application?of??Apple??in?Class?31?as?well?as?the?application?of?the?image?mark.?But?all?these?applications?were?refused?by?the?authorities,?and?are?currently?in?the?process?of?review?regarding?the?refusal.
As?stipulated?in?Article?11?of?the?Trademark?Law:
?[?]?those?only?comprising?generic?names,?designs?or?models?of?the?goods?in?respect?of?which?the?trademarks?are?used,?
shall?not?be?granted?the?trademark?right,?and?the?ones?applied?by?Apple?are?undoubtedly?within?the?description?of?products?in?Class?31.?Therefore,?it?is?no?wonder?its?application?was?refused.?In?addition,?once?Apple?could?succeed?in?its?application,?due?to?filing?its?application?later?than?Chenji,?we?could?see?no?reason?for?Apple?to?challenge?Chenji?s?application.
II.?No?abuse?use?of?the?trans-class?protection?on?well-known?trademark?is?allowed?
Article?13?of?the?Trademark?Law?provides?that:
?A?trademark?that?is?applied?for?registration?in?non-identical?or?dissimilar?goods?shall?not?be?registered?and?its?use?shall?be?prohibited,?if?it?is?a?reproduction,?an?imitation?or?a?translation,?of?a?well-known?mark?which?is?registered?in?China,?misleads?the?public,?and?the?interests?of?the?registrant?of?the?well-known?mark?are?likely?to?be?damaged?by?such?use.?
As?a?company?with?a?worldwide?reputation,?its?status?as?being?well?known?is?totally?beyond?question.?Could?this?then?be?the?reason?Apple?is?fighting?against?a?similar?trademark?application?in?Class?31??The?author?thinks?the?answer?is?no.
Although?a?well-known?trademark?can?obtain??trans-class?protection?,?such?protection?can?only?be?applied?in?cases?where??the?interests?of?the?registrant?of?the?well-known?mark?are?likely?to?be?damaged?.?But?objectively?speaking,?no?relation?can?be?confirmed?between?Class?31?and?Apple?s?reputation.?Moreover,?to?judge?the?trademarks,?despite?their?resemblance,?they?could?retain?an?obvious?difference?between?them,?and?no?likelihood?of?confusion?among?consumers?to?mistake?products?produced?by?Chenji?and?Apple,?respectively..?Since?no?confusion?can?reasonably?occur?between?similar?trademarks?in?different?classes,?no?damages?to?their?individual?interests?can?be?certain.?For?this?reason,?a?well?known?trademark?such?as?that?of?Apple?s?has?no?reasonable?basis?by?which?it?can?challenge?that?of?Chenji?s?(for?the?scope?of?protection?of?a?well-known?trademark,?you?may?check?our?previous?post??How?Large?Is?the?Scope?of?Protection?for?Well-Known?Trademarks?in?China???)
III.?When?Chenji?s?trademark?infringes?the?copyright?of?Apple?
As?mentioned?above,?from?the?trademark?law,?Apple?will?have?difficulty?in?fighting?Chen?s?trademark.?If?the??Apple??graphic?can?be?identified?as?a??work?,?can?Apple?claim?Chenji?s?trademark?constitutes?a?form?of?copyright?infringement??The?author?thinks?that?idea?can?only?be?carried?out?with?great?difficulty.
It?cannot?be?denied?the?apple?image?of?Apple?is?designed?by?the?IT?giant?itself,?and?could?reasonably?be?protected?under?Copyright?Law.?But?unlike?regulations?in?Patent?Law,?once?the?development?of?an?image?relies?on?the?independent?effort?of?its?creator,?then?that?creation?can?also?be?considered?a?work?afforded?legal?protection,?even?if?it?looks?much?like?the?prior?created?one.?In?other?copyright?infringement?cases,?due?to?the?complexity?of?the?work,?once?a?similarity?among?them?could?be?found,?the?likelihood?of?copyright?infringement?is?impossible?to?decide,?because?it?is?not?easy?for?a?defendant?to?explain?with?clarity?its?creative?process.
In?this?case,?because?Apple?s?trademark?itself?is?a?normal?apple?shape,?the?so-called?similarity?is?mainly?due?to?the?fact?that?both?marks?simply?represent?a?similarity?in?the?shape?of?an?apple.?In?practice,?trademarks?with?two?shapes?overlapped?together?are?countless,?like?that?of?Audi?Motors,?not?to?mention?the?difference?between??the?two?trademarks?as?a?whole.?In?this?case,?Chenji?s?trademark?is?used?in?the?category?of?fruit.?It?is?reasonable?for?them?to?an?apple?as?its?trademark?graphic.?Therefore,?it?is?hard?for?Apple?to?claim?copyright?infringement?by?Chenji.
Therefore,?from?existing?trademark?query?results?and?news?reports,?the?author?supports?the?committees??decision.?Although?the?law?should?protect?well-known?brands?to?prevent?others?from?taking?advantage?of?them,?this?kind?of?protection?must?be?conformable,?and?cannot?be?infinitely?expanded,?resulting?in?damage?to?market?competition.
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You?Yunting?86-21-52134918??youyunting@debund.com/yytbest@gmail.com
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