商标侵权判定中“商标性使用”的地位与认定

The Status and Recognition of“Trademark Use”in Trademark Infringement Judgment

商标侵权的本质在于侵权行为对商标识别功能及识别关系的破坏。“商标性使用”有效界定了商标权的效力范围,与混淆可能性共同构成商标侵权判定的要件。商标合理使用并非是对商标权的限制,其本质上属于一种“非商标性使用”。尽管商标权人的使用与侵权人的使用都涉及商标识别功能的保护,但因制度目的存在差异,二者在商标使用的认定上存在认定标准宽严及认定范围上的差异。基于“商标性使用”在商标侵权判断中的独立地位,对其认定应遵循“行为人标准”,即侵权行为的识别可能性标准,以区分于判断混淆可能性的消费者标准。对“商标性使用”在商标侵权判定中地位及认定的考察,有助于发现现有立法及法律适用上的空白与矛盾,为《商标法》的第五次修订提供借鉴。

The essence of trademark infringement lies in its destruction of the trademark recognition function and recognition relationship.Trademark use effectively defines the scope of validity of trademark rights,and together with the likelihood of confusion,constitutes twocore elements for determining trademark infringement.Before examining whether there exists likelihood of confusion,it is necessary to first determine whether the act of the accused infringer’s use constitutes a trademark use.Fair use of trademarks isessentially a form of“non-trademark use”.“Trademark use”in trademark infringement is different from trademark owner’s“trademark use”,and there are differences in identification standards between them.In light of the independent status of trademark use in trademark infringement judgment,its identification should follow“the standards of the perpetrator”,that is,the recognition possibility standard of infringement behavior,rather than“the consumer standard”of judging thelikelihood of confusion.The investigation of the status and indentification of trademark use in trademark infringement judgment helps to identify the problems in existing legislation and its application,and provides reference for the fifth revision of the Trademark Law.