This is not news, but a repeat of the trademark battle that international famous brands have encountered in China. Hermes International, the owner of the internationally renowned luxury brand "HERMES (Hermes)", applied for registration of an English trademark in my country in 1977, but has not registered a corresponding Chinese trademark for a long time. In 2009, when Hermès International discovered that the Chinese translation of its trademark "Hermes" was registered by Guangdong Shunde Dafeng Garment Co., Ltd. and requested to be revoked, it was rejected by the Trademark Review and Adjudication Board of the State Administration for Industry and Commerce (hereinafter referred to as the Trademark Review and Adjudication Board), and then the court of first instance. The judgment upholds the ruling of the Trademark Review and Adjudication Board.

Hermes International registered an English trademark in China more than 30 years ago, but left the hidden danger of uncertain Chinese trademark rights. There are two main reasons for this:

First of all, this is the failure of well-known overseas enterprises to fully understand China's trademark legal environment when they enter the Chinese market, which leads to mistakes in protecting their Chinese trademarks. China is a country that adopts "registrationism" in the acquisition of trademarks. Although there are also relevant regulations on the protection of unregistered trademarks, the protection of unregistered trademarks obviously cannot be compared with registered trademarks. Unless the unregistered trademark is a well-known trademark, it is difficult to compare with Registered trademark to contend. When foreign well-known brands enter the Chinese market, although they actually use the Chinese trademark corresponding to the English registered trademark, so that the Chinese trademark or the common name of the trademark has a connection with their brand, but they have not registered the Chinese trademark.

Secondly, international famous brands pay more attention to the protection of their own trademarks for their own interests. However, some domestic companies with unfair competition attempt to "get something for nothing", taking advantage of others' mistakes and institutional restrictions to "regard" the reputation of others' trademarks, and preemptively register trademarks that others have already used, but when the right holder realizes it is too late.

As for whether Hermès International can continue to use its unregistered Chinese trademark, in the author's opinion, first of all, from the analysis of the object of trademark protection, as a sign, a trademark itself has no substantive significance. The real value of a trademark is based on the use of The resulting goodwill is loaded on the logo. The generation, maintenance and improvement of business reputation in the market can only be obtained through use, rather than being registered or unregistered. Therefore, when a third party preemptively registers a trademark that has been used and has generated a certain amount of goodwill, the law should protect this "robbed" right.

Secondly, the trademark law is based on the principles of good faith and fairness and justice. The owner of the unregistered trademark has accumulated a good reputation and popularity on the unregistered trademark through his hard work and a lot of investment. If others can register the trademark at will, it will actually constitute an infringement of goodwill, which will not only lead to unregistered trademarks. The loss of the legitimate interests of the registered trademark owner, and will cause confusion among consumers in the market and encourage unfair competitors to counterfeit, counterfeit and other free-rider behaviors. Therefore, the protection of unregistered trademarks that have been used earlier and enjoy a certain reputation reflects the principle of good faith and is more in line with the spirit of fairness and justice in the law.