Corporate strategy: Only by having a good name can you be able to perform well

The Siemens joint-venture case, which once aroused strong repercussions in the industry, has recently made new progress. Siemens sued Hisense to the Cologne District Court in Germany last year while negotiating with Hisense over the transfer of the trademark. At present, Hisense is mobilizing people to actively prepare for the lawsuit that will be launched in Germany in April.

In fact, the incident of the Hisense trademark is just a microcosm of the international squatting of trademarks of many Chinese companies. Chinese trademarks have entered the peak period of overseas squatting. Well-known trademarks, well-known trademarks and product names with protection of origin are the hot spots for overseas squatting. At present, 15% of well-known mainland trademarks have been registered overseas. According to incomplete statistics, more than 80 trademarks in China have been squatted in Indonesia; nearly 100 trademarks have been squatted in Japan; and nearly 200 trademarks have been squatted in Australia.

There are two main types of squatting Chinese trademarks: one is a company established specifically for squatting trademarks and trademark speculation. For example, Canada has a "time-honored trademark transfer company", which specializes in squatting domestic time-honored trademarks. ; The other is foreign companies that compete with Chinese companies, squatting goods for the purpose of competition, in order to suppress the development of Chinese companies in some international markets with rich potential. In recent years, as the comparative advantages of Chinese enterprises in product manufacturing have been brought into play and the competitiveness of their products in the international market has rapidly increased, the incidents of the second category of foreign enterprises registering Chinese trademarks have shown a rapid upward trend, giving Chinese enterprises a lot of International development brings a lot of trouble.

Under such circumstances, Chinese enterprises need to have a long-term vision and view the protection of trademarks and brands from the perspective of international market competition. Specifically, it is to improve the protection awareness of trademarks and brands, take practical actions in management, and make good use of relevant international trademark protection laws, take precautions, and ensure the name of own trademarks. Once the status is correct, the actions of international operation and management can be smooth.

In order to effectively deal with the frenzy of cross-border squatting of trademarks, Chinese enterprises can take the following measures:

First, they should incorporate trademarks into the enterprise knowledge product management system, and do a good job in protecting the intellectual property rights of trademarks. Some legal experts believe that Hisense will use the protection of intellectual property rights as the most favorable cause of action in the forthcoming lawsuit in April, and the prior trademark, well-known trademark and trade name as the cause of action may be due to the lack of international conventions and German laws on trademark protection. With different interpretations, there are huge risks.

In order to do a good job in intellectual property litigation, enterprises need to provide evidence that the trademark is an original trademark, such as the entrusted design contract between Hisense and the "HiSense" designer, the payment receipts from Hisense to the "HiSense" designer, In the application and registration documents submitted by Hisense to the State Trademark Office of the People's Republic of China, the documents indicating the author of "HiSense", as well as the creation process information of the author of "HiSense" and other materials. These all depend on the company's solid intellectual property protection and management system.

Secondly, it is necessary to apply for international trademark registration in accordance with the law. International conventions and agreements that apply for international trademark registration, as well as national trademark regulations. In the case of Hisense, international norms include the Madrid Agreement for the International Registration of Marks, the Protocol Relating to the Madrid Agreement for the International Registration of Marks, the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property, the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights, the The Berne Convention for Literary and Artistic Works, the European Community Trademark Regulations, etc., and the country-specific regulations include the German Trademark Law and the Trademark Law of the People's Republic of China. Enterprises can register their own trademarks in their strategic international markets in advance according to the provisions of these norms.

Of course, when registering an international trademark, you need to pay attention to the registration strategy. Experts suggest that in countries that implement the first-to-use principle, that is, whoever uses the first will own the trademark, such as the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, Singapore and other countries, they should use the trademark as soon as possible, and pay attention to collecting and fixing the evidence of the use of the trademark in these countries. , including contracts, advertisements, promotional materials, etc. If the trademark is preemptively registered, the trademark can be reclaimed through trademark opposition procedures or litigation procedures. Secondly, in countries that implement the principle of first registration, that is, whoever registers first will own the trademark right, such as Japan, South Korea, Spain, Italy and other countries, should apply for registration as soon as possible.

In addition, in order to prevent trademark squatting and protect trademark exclusive rights, enterprises can also actively use trademark place-holding technique, adopt the strategy of “big place-holding” of trademarks, and occupy every seat in each category of commodity trademarks. Obtain the exclusive right to exclusive use of trademarks for all products; adopt "defensive placeholders" to register their own trademarks and other patterns and words that are similar in shape and sound as trademarks to prevent other companies from borrowing them to make a fuss; adopt "advanced placeholders" , At the same time when the brand is just released, it uses placeholder to protect its own brand. In this way, a multi-level protection network is built for the trademark, and the "name is right" is truly achieved.