商标法第十五条的价值定位与适用规则研究

作为保护未注册商标、打击恶意抢注的重要条款,我国《商标法》第15条规制的是具有代理、代表等特定关系的商标抢注行为。从价值定位来看,其是商标法调整不同情形的抢注行为的重要一环,该定位决定了其适用范围应与其他条款相协调,从体系化的角度防止适用边界的重叠。从规范设计来看,第15条第1款和第2款分别调整不同的特定关系,分别具有着不同的适用要求与法律效力。从具体适用来看,争议较大的是对特定关系的认定、对在先使用的判断,一方面,实践中的特定关系往往牵连着复杂的关系链条,这需要对所涉及的关系进行实质性把握,另一方面,面对第15条可能沦为一些竞争者打击竞争对手的工具的现象,这需要审慎地对在先使用与在先权利的归属进行实质性判断。面对第15条在理解和适用上的模糊与争议,有必要回归其规范目的和价值定位予以体系化考虑,以正确界定其适用边界,合理把握其适用要件,恰当发挥其应有作用。

Research on the Value Positioning and Applicable Rules of Article 15 of the Trademark Law

Article 15 of the Trademark Law is an important clause in China’s trademark law to protect unregistered trademarks and regulate trademark squatting.From the perspective of the position of the clause,it is an important part of the rules which aim to regulate the preemptive registration of unregistered trademarks of others under different circumstances,such positioning implies that,its applicable boundaries and specific rules should be systematically understood in conjunction with other provisions,and,it should avoid the crossovers and overlaps with other provisions.From the perspective of the design of the clause,Article 15 par.(1) and par.(2) of the Trademark Law together regulate trademark squatting behaviors between specific parties,and,the required relations,requirements of use and legal effects of these two clauses are different.From the perspective of the application,since the chain or network of specific relationships involved in practice is complex and changeable,the legal and judicial interpretations cannot exhaustively list the types of these specific relationships,meanwhile,since Article 15 may become the tools between the competitors,it requires prudent substantive judgment on prior use and ownership of prior rights.Faced with the various ambiguities in the understanding and application of Article 15,it is necessary to return to the normative purpose and system positioning of Article 15,to properly delimit its application boundary,and to play its role in a proper way.