资讯 | 天达共和律师就伊万卡·特朗普商标注册问题接受《华盛顿邮报》采访

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2018年10月13日，国家商标局初步审定核准了美国总统特朗普的女儿伊万卡·特朗普在中国的16件商标申请，引发了外界的普遍关注和讨论。日前，美国知名媒体《华盛顿邮报》就伊万卡在华商标申请事宜进行了专题报道，天达共和律师事务所合伙人冯超律师等业内专家接受了采访。

由于正值中美贸易战僵持阶段，外界普遍担忧伊万卡在华商标申请行为中可能掺杂的政治因素。伊万卡的私人律师解释说，在华商标申请是“一种常见的商标实务操作，是为了阻止其他人盗用伊万卡的姓名”。对此，冯超律师认为，不管伊万卡的动机如何，在中国，商标抢注行为确实广泛存在，很多公司会抢注具有价值但与其自身无关的商标以谋取不当利益。

冯超律师指出，中国目前已经有超过500件商标申请与伊万卡的外文或者中文姓名有关，而伊万卡本人实际上只提出了53件申请，其余申请均为中国公司或者个人提出。对此，冯超律师认为，“商标抢注在中国确实是一个问题，由于商标局每天都会收到大量的商标申请，给中国商标局在审查方面造成了不必要的工作量。中国商标法第七条规定了诚实信用原则，依法及时有效的驳回申请并对抢注者给与惩罚才能够根本扭转趋势。而正在进行的商标法修法工作则反映了这一考虑”。

Charles Feng Interviewed by the Washington Post regarding Ivanka Trump Trademark Applications in China

On October 13, 2018, the Trademark Office of China awarded preliminary approval for 16 trademark applications from Ivanka Trump, the daughter of President Trump. The approvals were notable for their timing and also raised eyebrows for covering a grab-bag of products.

In preparation for its recent article China greenlights large batch of Ivanka Trump Trademark Applications focusing on trademark applications of the president’s daughter in China, The Washington Post, a renowned daily newspaper published in Washington, interviewed several well-known experts in this field, including Charles Feng, a partner with East & Concord Partners.

The October approvals came as President Trump was locked in a trade standoff with China, which raised public concerns about the possible political factors under these trademark applications. The private attorney of Ivanka explained that “this is a common trademark practice and these trademarks were sought to prevent others from stealing her name”.

Regardless of Ivanka Trump’s motives, Charles Feng said, the practice of “trademark squatting” —a firm applying for valuable trademarks with tenuous or nonexistent connections to the name for illicit economic interests—is real in China, and highly widespread.

Mr. Feng noted that more than 500 trademark applications have been made with either Ivanka Trump’s name in Roman letters or Chinese characters and the real Ivanka Trump submitted only 53 of the applications, while Chinese companies and individuals lodged the rest. “The squatters are really a problem in China, and the authorities get a ton of applications every day, which burdens the authorities with so much unnecessary workload” said Mr. Feng, “the situation could only be fundamentally improved by timely and effective examination and rejection of the applications as well as punishment on the squatters according to the Article 7 of PRC Trademark Law which provides the principle of honesty. The on-going amendment of the PRC Trademark Law has taken this point into consideration”, added Feng, who also participated in the lobby for the amendment with Chinese legislative bodies.

原文链接：

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/china-greenlights-large-batch-of-ivanka-trump-trademark-applications/2018/11/06/c085e88c-e1c8-11e8-a1c9-6afe99dddd92_story.html?utm_term=.a969cf8287d5

冯超

天达共和合伙人

北京办公室 知识产权部

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冯超律师是最高人民法院案例指导基地咨询专家、中国版权协会常务理事、中国知识产权法学研究会理事。其处理过的案件包括知识产权相关的争议性和非争议性案件。冯律师同时精通英文和日文，过去十余年中其代理了大量企业在中国法院的知识产权诉讼案件，包括驰名商标认定案件、著作权侵权案件、商标和专利的确权及侵权诉讼案件、侵犯商业秘密案件、反不正当竞争案件及反垄断案件，其中不少案件是具有突破性的里程碑式案件。在知识产权交易领域，其提供的服务包括起草、谈判及执行知识产权转让、许可协议等。冯律师对互联网领域的知识产权保护问题有较深入研究， 其代理的客户多为跨国企业和国内知名企业。

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