Perspective | A Brief Analysis of the "Certain Influence" Mark in Article 6 of the Anti-Unfair Competition Law
Published:
2025-05-28
Preface
In the course of market operations, a company's logo acts like its "business card," carrying the company's reputation and the characteristics of its products or services. It's a key factor for consumers in identifying and choosing goods or services. However, some operators try to use others' influential logos through improper means to confuse the market, mislead consumers, and gain undue profits. To maintain a fair and orderly market competition order and protect the legitimate rights and interests of operators and consumers, the "Anti-Unfair Competition Law of the People's Republic of China" and related judicial interpretations provide specific regulations.
Relevant Articles
Article 6 of the "Anti-Unfair Competition Law of the People's Republic of China": "Operators shall not engage in the following confusing acts that mislead people into believing that they are the goods of others or have a specific connection with others:
(1) Unauthorized use of logos that are identical or similar to those of others that have a certain influence on their goods, packaging, or decoration;
(2) Unauthorized use of the enterprise name (including abbreviations and names), social organization name (including abbreviations), or name (including pen names, stage names, and translated names) of others that have a certain influence;
(3) Unauthorized use of the main part of the domain name, website name, or webpage of others that have a certain influence;
(4) Other confusing acts that are sufficient to mislead people into believing that they are the goods of others or have a specific connection with others;
Article 4 of the "Interpretation of the Supreme People's Court on Several Issues Concerning the Application of the Anti-Unfair Competition Law of the People's Republic of China" stipulates:
Logos with a certain market reputation and significant characteristics that distinguish the source of goods may be recognized by the people's court as logos with "a certain influence" as stipulated in Article 6 of the Anti-Unfair Competition Law.
When determining whether a logo as stipulated in Article 6 of the Anti-Unfair Competition Law has a certain market reputation, the people's court should comprehensively consider the degree of awareness among the relevant public in China, the time, region, amount, and target of goods sales, the duration, extent, and geographical scope of publicity, and the protection status of the logo.
Specific Interpretation
1. The connotation of logos with "a certain influence"
1. Market reputation: This does not require the logo to be known by all the public nationwide, but emphasizes the degree of awareness among the relevant public in China. For example, some regional specialty snack brands, although their influence is limited to a certain city or region, have high recognition among local consumers and can also be recognized as having a certain market reputation. When making a judgment, factors such as the time, region, amount, and target of goods sales, the duration, extent, and geographical scope of publicity, and the protection status of the logo should be considered comprehensively. A new brand logo that has just entered the market, has a very limited sales range, and has not been effectively promoted is difficult to be recognized as having a certain market reputation.
2. Significant characteristics that distinguish the source of goods: The logo should enable consumers to associate specific goods or services with specific operators, thereby distinguishing different sources of goods. Logos lacking significant characteristics, such as the common name of goods or logos that only directly indicate the quality characteristics of goods, generally cannot be protected as logos with "a certain influence," unless these logos have acquired significant characteristics and a certain market reputation through use. For example, "Apple" as the common name of a fruit lacks significance in itself, but when it is used in the field of electronic products and has become a significant logo distinguishing Apple's products from other brands of electronic products through long-term use and extensive publicity, it has the basis to be legally protected.
2. Types of logos with "a certain influence"
Article 6 of the Anti-Unfair Competition Law stipulates several types of logos with "a certain influence," as follows:
1. Product name, packaging, and decoration: The name of a product should be unique and distinguishable from other similar products. The names of some well-established brands, which have been in operation for many years and have established a good reputation and recognition among consumers, are considered product names with a certain influence. Packaging and decoration are the external forms of products, and unique packaging shapes, color combinations, and pattern designs may constitute logos with a certain influence. Coca-Cola's iconic red packaging and wavy ribbon pattern have become important symbols of its brand, with extremely high recognition.
2. Enterprise name (including abbreviations and names), social organization name (including abbreviations), and name (including pen names, stage names, and translated names): The enterprise name is an important logo of an enterprise in market activities. Enterprise names with a certain influence, such as Alibaba and Huawei, and their abbreviations or names are also legally protected. Social organization names, when influential in their respective fields, are also within the scope of protection. The names, pen names, and stage names of celebrities, due to their high social reputation and commercial value, may lead consumers to mistakenly believe that there is a specific connection with them if used without authorization, and are also within the scope of protection of the Anti-Unfair Competition Law. For example, if other businesses use the names of celebrities for publicity and promotion without authorization for products endorsed by those celebrities, it may constitute unfair competition.
3. Main part of domain name, website name, and webpage: In the Internet age, the main part of the domain name, website name, and webpage are important logos for enterprises to conduct online business. The domain names and website names of influential e-commerce platforms, as well as uniquely designed and recognizable webpages, are legally protected. The page layout and color styles of some well-known websites have become familiar to users, and if other websites imitate them, it is easy to cause user confusion, which may violate the Anti-Unfair Competition Law.
3. Unfair competition acts and determination related to logos with "a certain influence"
Operators shall not engage in the following confusing acts that mislead people into believing that they are the goods of others or have a specific connection with others:
1. Unauthorized use of identical or similar logos: Unauthorized use of logos that are identical or similar to those of others that have a certain influence, without the permission of the right holder, is a typical act of unfair competition. When making a determination, the people's court may refer to the principles and methods for determining whether trademarks are identical or similar, comparing the overall and main parts of the logos separately in isolation, and considering the significance and reputation of the logos. For example, the "Kangshuaifu" instant noodles that appeared on the market have a name very similar to "Kangshifu," and their packaging and decoration also imitate "Kangshifu." This behavior is very likely to confuse consumers, misleading them into believing that they are products of the "Kangshifu" brand, constituting an infringement of the logo with a certain influence of "Kangshifu."
2. Misleading Determination: Article 6 of the Anti-Unfair Competition Law stipulates that "leading consumers to mistakenly believe that it is another party's goods or has a specific connection with another party" includes mistakenly believing that there is a business alliance, license use, commercial naming, or advertising endorsement with another party. Using the same or visually almost indistinguishable product names, packaging, decoration, and other logos on the same goods should be considered sufficient to cause confusion with logos that have a certain influence on others. However, for the use of similar logos on non-identical goods or services, whether it constitutes confusion needs to consider various factors comprehensively, such as the degree of attention of the relevant public and the degree of relevance of goods or services. For example, if a small cosmetics company uses a logo similar to that of a well-known international cosmetics brand, although the products of the two are not exactly the same, if the target customer group of the small company overlaps with the well-known brand to a certain extent, and the way it uses the logo is easy for consumers to believe that there is some connection between the two, it may also be considered as constituting unfair competition.
IV. Typical Case Analysis
Taking the case of the imitation of "Xizhilang" lactic acid jelly as an example, "Xizhilang" is a well-known jelly brand in China. Its trademark was recognized as a well-known trademark as early as 2000, and the packaging and decoration of its series of jelly products have become a unique image recognized by consumers, with extremely high market recognition and significant characteristics of distinguishing the source of goods, belonging to a typical logo "with a certain influence." A lactic acid jelly manufacturer imitated the packaging and decoration of "Xizhilang" lactic acid jelly. This act of arbitrarily using similar logos such as packaging and decoration that have a certain influence on others is very likely to mislead consumers into believing that the manufacturer's products are "Xizhilang" products or have a specific connection with "Xizhilang," seriously disrupting the market competition order and damaging the legitimate rights and interests of the "Xizhilang" brand. Finally, the infringing manufacturer was ordered by the court to compensate for economic losses and reasonable expenses totaling 1 million yuan. This case fully demonstrates the strong legal protection of logos "with a certain influence."
For example, a century-old time-honored pastry company has extremely high brand recognition in the local and surrounding areas. After years of operation, it has established a good brand image in the minds of consumers and is a company name "with a certain influence." However, a newly established pastry shop arbitrarily used a similar name to that of the time-honored brand in its sign and publicity, leading to consumer confusion and mistakenly believing that the new shop has some connection with the time-honored brand. This behavior not only infringes on the legitimate rights and interests of the time-honored brand enterprise but also disrupts the normal market competition order. In the trial, the court comprehensively considered the historical inheritance, market recognition, sales area of the time-honored brand enterprise, and the subjective malice of the new shop, and determined that the behavior of the new shop constituted unfair competition. According to Article 6, Item 2 of the Anti-Unfair Competition Law, the court ruled that the new shop should stop using the similar name and compensate the time-honored brand enterprise for the corresponding economic losses.
V. Significance and Value of Legal Regulation
Article 6 of the Anti-Unfair Competition Law on the protection of logos "with a certain influence" has important significance and value. From the perspective of maintaining market competition order, it prevents operators from gaining a competitive advantage through unfair confusing methods, ensuring a fair competitive market environment, and encouraging enterprises to participate in competition through legitimate means such as innovation, improving product quality, and service levels. In terms of protecting the legitimate rights and interests of operators, it enables the legal protection of the brand value and business reputation of enterprises, avoids losses due to the infringement of others, and encourages enterprises to continuously invest resources in brand building and innovative development. In terms of protecting consumer rights and interests, it helps consumers accurately identify the source of goods or services, avoids purchasing goods or services that do not meet expectations due to confusion, and safeguards consumers' right to know and choose.
Whether it is an enterprise or other market entities, they should respect the intellectual property rights and legitimate rights and interests of others, abide by the law, seek development through legitimate business practices, and jointly create a market environment of integrity, fairness, and order.
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