Title: Understanding of the Article 15 of Law of Trademark of China
According to article 15 of the Law of Trademark of China, “If the agent or representative register the trademarks of the principle in their own names but without authorization of the principle, no registration and prohibition of use of the trademark shall be approved if the principle raised an objection。”
【Explanation】The article is about the rules to protect the trademark right of the principle part.
There are two methods for the trademark owner to perform their right.
One is performing their right directly, the other one is to perform their right by their agency. At the second case, the relation between the trademark owner and agent or the representatives is suitable for the rules about the commission in the civil law. According to the general provisions of the civil law,“citizens and legal persons may perform civil juristic acts through agents. An agent shall perform Juristic Acts in the principal's name at the scope the power of agency. The principle should take civil liability for the acts of the agents. The principle needs to take civil liability, only he or she confirms the acts of agency on the condition of no right of agency, oversteps the right of agency, or the right of agency after its termination.
As the development of the market economy, the trademark, as the intangible assets, is more and more important in the economic activities. Therefore, malicious registration of others’ trademark occurs continuously, and even more intensified. This phenomenon has occurred in trademark agents or representatives. Article 6-77 of the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property provides that “If an agent or representatives of the trademark owner in the Union in his or her own name register one or more trademarks for several countries without the authorization of the owner of the trademark, the owner of the trademark have right to oppose the filling or demand the cancellation of the trademark, and the owner also have right to forbid the agent using the trademark.
China, as a member of the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property, should fulfill its obligations . Therefore, this article provides that, “If the agent or representative register the trademarks of the principle in their own names but without authorization of the principle, no registration and prohibition of use of the trademark shall be approved if the principle raised an objection。” In accordance with the provisions of this Article, an agent or representative accepting the commission of the agent or the representative to carry on the trademark registration shall be conducted in the name of the principle. If an agent or representative is not authorized to register the trademark, the principle have the right to raise an objection. If the trademark or trademark is filed, the trademark administrative department shall not pass the registration and the prohibition of use shall be approved. As for the registered trademark, in accordance with 41, “The principle can apply for the adjudication of Trademark Review and Adjudication Board to cancel the trademark within 5 years of registration. Well-known trademark owner are not in the time limitation of 5 years for ill-intention registrations.