从“沁州黄”案看通用名称的判定及司法适用

Identification and Judicial Application of Common Names Highlighted in the Case of "Qinzhou Huang"

通用名称认定的相关公众可以是消费者和经营者,但消费者的认知更具有决定因素。在具体个案中,相关公众的范围应当适用特定地域还是全国性地域,应当从商标的基本功能来判定。认定地域范围应当以全国性为准,对于地名商标或包含地域特点的商标也应以全国性的消费者或相关经营者为标准,除非能证明已经形成固定的相关市场。地名商标与地理标志产品的保护并不矛盾,应谨慎认定地理标志为通用名称。因为地理标志若被认定为通用名称,则可能损害特定地域群体的合法利益,甚至不恰当地将私权利益公共化,易造成市场秩序混乱。“沁州黄”作为地理标志产品可以用专用商标来保护。

The public concerned with the identification of generic names may be consumers and operators, but consumers′ perception is the more decisive factor. In specific cases, the scope of the relevant public should apply to a specific region or a national region, which should be judged from the basic function of the trademark. The identification of geographical scope should be based on the national level, and the national consumers or relevant operators should be the criteria for geographical names trademarks or trademarks with regional characteristics, unless it can be proved that a fixed relevant market has been formed. There is no contradiction between the protection of geographical names trademarks and geographical indication products. We should carefully identify geographical indications as common names, because if geographical indications are recognized as common names, they may damage the legitimate interests of specific geographical groups, or even inappropriately publicize private rights and interests, which can easily lead to market disorder."Qinzhou Huang", as a geographical indication product of millet, can be protected by special trademarks.