通用名称司法认定的证据规则研究——以“消费者调查”为视角

Research on the evidence rules of judicial determination of generic name——empirical research from“consumer survey”

通用名称司法认定的焦点问题是“相关公众的通常认识”,然而在我国的司法实践中,“相关公众的通常认识”的认定证据间接、零散,致使通用名称的证据标准判定模糊。消费者调查证据在英美等国的商标侵权案件中被广泛应用,但我国适用消费者调查证据的实例屈指可数。消费者调查应当是反映相关公众心理认知状态的最直接证据,我国有必要明确消费者调查的证据地位,司法裁判引导确立消费者问卷调查的操作规范;遵循问卷调查前法院“预先审查”的基本规则,由法院初步审查问卷调查内容、调查对象、调查方法与程序的可靠性;问卷调查活动应当遵循客观、真实与科学的基本原则,以增强消费者调查结果作为证据采纳的合理性和可能性。

The focus of the judicial determination of generic name is“the general cognition of the relevant public”.However,the evidence of cognition of relevant public is indirect and scattered in Chinese judicial practice,which leads to the vague evidentiary standard for the determination of generic name.The consumer survey evidence has been widely used in trademark infringement cases in Britain and the United States,but there are only a few examples of applying consumer survey evidence in trademark authorization and infringement disputes in China.Consumer survey should be the most direct evidence to reflect the psychological cognition of the relevant public.It is necessary for China to clarify the evidence status of consumer survey,and the judicial adjudication should specify the operation standard of consumer survey.Before the questionnaire,the court should follow the basic rules of“pre-examination”,and preliminarily review the reliability of the questionnaire’s,respondents,survey methods and procedures.The questionnaire activities should follow the basic principles of objectivity,authenticity and science,so as to enhance the rationality and admissibility of consumer survey results as evidence.