Packaging and intellectual property protection

The current internationalization of the protection of intellectual property rights (patents, copyrights, trademarks) has become a major trend in the world. The new situation of China's accession to the WTO requires that we pay more attention to this work. Some of the well-known trademarks in China's export commodities are preemptively registered by foreign companies abroad. For example, the five-star beer brands that sell well in the United States are registered by the United States, and I am forced to change the "Nine Stars" to the United States to affect sales. Other instances of counterfeiting of trademarks and packaging have also occurred. Therefore, packaging issues are closely related to intellectual property protection. The protection of packaging is mainly the patent protection of the product design, the copyright protection of the packaging and decoration screen, and the protection of the trademark exclusive right.
First, design patents In recent years, counterfeiting has flourished. Counterfeit goods, in addition to counterfeit products, are still more about imitation of package shapes and designs. The design includes appearance, patterns, decorations and colors. According to the provisions of the Chinese patent law, the design of the product is protected by law. Article 23 of the Patent Law states: “Designs granted with patent rights shall be published publicly before the filing date in the country or used in the country. Same dissimilar..."
Article 2 of the Patent Law stipulates that inventions and utility models granted with patent rights should be novel, practical, and creative.
Novelty: refers to the fact that there is no identical invention or actual and new type published in domestic and foreign publications before the filing date, used publicly in the country, or known to the public in other ways, and there is no identical invention or utility model. The application was submitted by the other person to the Patent Office and recorded in the patent application document published after the filing date.
Practicality: means that the invention or utility model can create or have a positive effect in use.
Creativity means that the existing technical inventions before the filing date have outstanding substantive features and significant progress, and the utility model has substantial characteristics and progress.
According to the above provisions, the author has several points of understanding:
(1) The design is also protected by the patent law.
(2) The design must be a physical product that can be in the form of a product, or it can be the shape or pattern color of the appearance or packaging;
(3) The design must be an aesthetically pleasing new design suitable for industrial use;
(4) No one can apply for a patent for a product that has been published publicly in domestic and foreign publications or has not been used publicly at home and abroad.
Second, copyright protection China's copyright law has been implemented since June 1, 1991.
Article 3 of the Copyright Law states: "Art and photography are copyright protection."
Article 46 of the Copyright Law stipulates: “Copying and distributing works without the permission of the copyright owner shall be deemed to be a tort.”
According to article 52 of the book entry law, “The term “copying” as used in this Law refers to the act of making one or more copies of a work from printing, copying, rubbing, remake, etc.”
The protection of any trademark, name, or combination of the three trademark protections that are used to indicate the identity of the goods and distinguish them from those produced or sold by other manufacturers and traders is covered by the trademark.
Different countries have different trademark registration validity periods. China's trademark registration rights are valid for 10 years. They can apply for extension within 6 months before expiration or within 3 months after expiration. If a trademark is not used for two consecutive years, it is deemed to be abandoned. Special protection.
China's trademark law stipulates that trademarks must not use the following text patterns.
(1) It is the same or similar to China's country name, national flag, national emblem, military flag, and military emblem.
(2) It is the same or similar to the foreign country name, national flag, national emblem, military flag, military emblem, etc.
(3) The names of flags and emblems of international organizations and governments of various countries must not be similar.
(4) It must not be the same or similar to the Red Cross logo.
(5) Same or similar to the commodity and generic name.
(6) Directly indicate the quality, raw materials, function, use, quality, quantity, and other characteristics of the product.
(7) It is ethnically discriminatory.
(8) Exaggerate propaganda and deception.
(9) Harmful to social morality or other adverse effects. (Liu Beichen)