The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) defines trademark coexistence as “a situation in which two different enterprises use a similar or identical trademark to market a product or service without necessarily interfering with each other’s businesses”.
From the perspective of lawfulness, trademark coexistence can be divided into statutory coexistence and agreed coexistence. This column will only look at agreed coexistence occurring in the course of a trademark granting procedure, namely a trademark coexistence agreement wherein application of Article 30 of the Trademark Law to determine similar trademarks serves as one of the factors considered.
The PRC Trademark Law, and the Implementing Regulations for the Trademark Law, are silent on trademark coexistence agreements. However, the Trademark Review and Adjudication Board (TRAB) studied the issue of a “coexistence agreement” in a rejection review case at the 24th TRAB affairs meeting in 2007.
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Claire Zhao is an associate and trademark attorney at Sanyou Intellectual Property Agency
16/F, Block A, Corporate SquareNo.35 Jinrong Street, Beijing 100033, ChinaTel: +86 10 8809 1921 / 8809 1922
Fax: +86 10 8809 1920
E-mail:
sanyou@sanyouip.com
www.sanyouip.com
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