Other countries adopt the principle of "first use". The meaning of "prior use" refers to the production or sales date sequence between two or more identical or similar trademarks used in the same variety. If the production and sales date is earlier, it is called "early use". The practice of "first use" is actually to obtain the exclusive right to use a trademark through use, and the first user can obtain the exclusive right first. The users of the principle of "priority of use" are represented by countries such as Britain and the United States. Its characteristic is that the exclusive right to use a trademark depends only on the use of the trademark, and registration is only to enhance its effectiveness. The principle of "use first" protects the rights and interests of the first user, but it also has obvious shortcomings, that is, the registered trademark is unstable. Any trademark used earlier, although it was later stopped, can still object to the exclusive right to use a registered trademark with a wide business scope, thus interfering with the normal operation of the market. There are also regional issues. If a trademark is only used in a certain area or a certain town and does not involve the whole territory, then the ownership of its exclusive right area must be decided through public comment. If the trademark is only used in a certain area, its exclusive right is limited to that area. If the trademark owner wants to extend it to other regions, he must publicize it to let consumers in other regions know, so as to expand the coverage of exclusive rights.
The principle of prior use of trademarks can be understood as follows: if you want to apply for trademark registration in a country, you must have actually used it in that country before applying, otherwise the applicant is not qualified to submit a registration application to that country. However, with the development of global trade and the formation of the great cycle of world trade, more and more countries have changed the original rigid trademark authorization principle, which has softened this principle. Take the United States as an example For foreign applicants, they can apply for registration in the United States on four bases: ① It is most beneficial for applicants to apply for trademark registration based on actual use. Advantages are: low cost, short time and relatively easy registration. (2) The application is based on the intended use, and the application is based on the fact that the applicant has not actually used the trademark in the country where the application is filed, but is ready to use it after a period of time. On this basis, the application for trademark registration is relatively expensive, takes a long time, has strict examination standards and complicated application procedures. Why? The reason is that the examiner thinks that the trademark has not been used in the United States and should be reviewed in strict accordance with the standards. If it is based on actual use, the examiner will think that since the trademark has been actually used in the United States and there is no legal dispute in actual use, it will be slightly relaxed when examining the distinctiveness of the trademark. If the application is based on intended use, even if it passes the examination and the objection period has expired, the registration certificate will not be issued immediately. At this point, there is one more program than based on actual use. After the application based on intentional use is approved in substance, the applicant must wait until the trademark is actually used in the United States, and then must sign an affidavit of use and provide two actual use labels before applying for the registration certificate issued by the US Patent and Trademark Office. The period from the approval of the trademark application to the actual use of the trademark by the applicant is two years. If the applicant cannot complete the actual use within the first half of the year, he must apply for a second half-year extension. In other words, the applicant can apply for four extensions within two years. If the time limit exceeds two years and no evidence of actual use can be provided, the trademark application shall be invalid. It can be seen that the application based on the intended use is long and expensive. (3) Foreigners can register according to their own conditions. The application based on domestic registration does not need to provide proof of use, but the applicant must provide the registration certificate issued by the local trademark authority, and the trademark and goods applied for registration must be exactly the same as those registered in China. For foreigners, you can apply for trademark registration based on your own country. For the registration application based on domestic application, the applicant must also provide the application certificate issued by the local trademark authority. Only after the applicant applies for registration in China can the US Patent and Trademark Office approve the registration.