The celebrity name has relatively high popularity and strong social appeal, which can directly attract potential consumer groups and increase transaction opportunities, so a trademark that is the same or similar to the celebrity name has great commercial value. Driven by economic interests, many people have begun to preemptively register celebrity name trademarks to gain a head start in the market.

Recently, ANDU's request for invalidation of the "FAN BEAUTY" trademark was successfully approved by the Trademark Office. According to the relevant evidence materials, the respondent has obvious subjective malice. Let's look at the specific content below:

Case Introduction:

The trademark "FAN BEAUTY" No. 30079762 was filed for registration by King Power International Group Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as the respondent) on April 8, 2018, and was approved for use in 23 classes of "yarn" and other goods.

On June 15, 2020, the trademark was invalidated by Fan Bingbing and her company, Wuxi MeitaoJiayi Film and Television Culture Studio (i.e. the applicant in this case). According to the applicant, Fan Bingbing is a well-known actor in China, and before the application date of the disputed trademark, he already had a very high reputation and influence among the public. "Fan Beauty" is a beauty equipment brand created by Fan Bingbing, which has a corresponding relationship with Fan Bingbing. Wuxi MeitaoJiayi Film and Television Culture Studio is a company invested by Fan Bingbing, and all trademark matters concerning Fan Bingbing's name and its "Fan Beauty" products have been applied by its studio. The disputed trademark and Wuxi MeitaoJiayi Film and Television Culture Studio No. 21229406 "FAN BEAUTY" trademark (hereinafter referred to as the cited trademark) constitute similar trademarks used in closely related goods and services. After a large number of publicity and promotion and use, "Fan Beauty" has become a product name with a certain influence on beauty equipment products, and at the same time, Wuxi MeitaoJiayi Film and Television Culture Studio enjoys the prior legal and valid trademark rights against it, and the registration of the disputed trademark damages the prior rights of Fan Bingbing and Wuxi MeitaoJiayi Film and Television Culture Studio. In addition to the disputed trademarks, the respondent also applied for the registration of a number of trademarks in various other classes that were highly similar to other well-known brands, which violated the principle of good faith, disrupted the order of trademark registration, and caused adverse social impact. Request that the disputed trademark be invalidated in accordance with Articles 4, 7, 10.1.8, 30, 32, 44.1 of the Trademark Law of the People's Republic of China (hereinafter referred to as the "Trademark Law"), and other relevant provisions.

Decision:

According to the facts ascertained by the TRAB, it can be seen that the disputed trademark "FAN BEAUTY" is the same as the "FAN BEAUTY" brand with strong distinctiveness in Applicant I and II, and it is a coincidence that the Respondent did not give a reasonable explanation of the source of the trademark design. According to the facts ascertained, the respondent applied for the registration of a total of 240 trademarks, many of which were identical or highly similar to well-known brands. The aforementioned acts of the respondent do not have the proper legitimacy of a registered trademark. This kind of improper registration behavior obviously exceeds the normal production and business needs, disrupts the normal order of trademark registration management, undermines the market order of fair competition, violates the principle of public order and good customs, and constitutes the situation of obtaining trademark registration "by deceptive means or other improper means" as referred to in the first paragraph of Article 44 of the Trademark Law.

Therefore, the registration of the disputed trademark complies with the situation of obtaining trademark registration "by deceptive means or other improper means", which damages the applicant's right to the prior name, so the disputed trademark should be declared invalid.

In addition to the trademarks involved, the respondent had also applied for the registration of a number of trademarks that were highly similar to other well-known brands in various other categories. This fact is sufficient to show that the respondent subjectively has the malice of climbing Fan Bingbing's popularity. If celebrities want to avoid their names or similar name trademarks being registered in bad faith, they must take precautions and do a good job in the relevant protection of their name rights, such as registering their names as trademarks in multiple classes or even all categories, so as to effectively prevent others from infringing their legitimate rights and interests.