The Judgment Method of Symbolic Use of Trademarks in Practice

商标是指用以识别和区分商品或服务来源的标志。商标的灵魂是权利人对其进行“使用”。为了避免出现商标“注而不用”现象的出现，我国现行的商标法规定了撤三制度。随着我国“撤三”案件数量的增多，在实践中，商标完全不使用的行为越来越少，取而代之的是出现以“使用”为幌子的“不使用”行为，即本文探讨的“象征性使用”。我国《商标法》第四十八条虽然对商标的使用作出了规定，但该规定过于原则性，无法解决实际中出现的有分歧的问题，进而使得审判中出现同案不同判的现象，笔者结合实务判例，对进一步细化象征性使用的认定细则提出一点拙见，从商标使用主体、商标使用范围及商标使用形式等方面提出建议。A trademark refers to a mark used to identify and distinguish the source of goods or services. The soul of a trademark is the right holder’s “use” of it. In order to avoid the phenomenon of “marking without using” trademarks, China’s current Trademark Law stipulates the system of revocation of trademarks for three consecutive years of non-use. With the increasing number of cases of “revocation of trademarks for three consecutive years of non-use” in China, the practice of not using trademarks at all is becoming less and less common. Instead, there are “non-use” behaviors disguised as “use”, which is the “symbolic use” discussed in this article. Although Article 48 of China’s Trademark Law provides regulations on the use of trademarks, this provision is too principled and cannot solve the problem of disputes in practice, which leads to the phenomenon of different judgments in the same case. Based on practical precedents, the author makes some suggestions for further refining the rules for identifying symbolic use, including the subject of trademark use, the scope of trademark use, and the form of trademark use.