Port communicationWhether the prior well-known trademark is similar to someone else’s registered trademark? Applicant’s prior well-known trademark + trademark application that is identical or similar to someone else’s prior trademark，When determining whether a similar trademark is constituted，Trademarks cannot be determined to be similar simply because of their inclusion.，Rather, it should be based on the composition of the trademark、salient identification part、Comprehensive judgment on overall structure and visual effects，The criterion shall be whether it confuses the relevant public about the source of the goods.。
Qibangbang Hong Kong Xintong-Let’s talk： Whether the prior well-known trademark is similar to someone else’s registered trademark 。
The applicant’s prior well-known trademark + application for registration of a trademark that is identical or similar to someone else’s prior trademark，When determining whether a similar trademark is constituted，Trademarks cannot be determined to be similar simply because of their inclusion.，Rather, it should be based on the composition of the trademark、salient identification part、Comprehensive judgment on overall structure and visual effects，The criterion shall be whether it confuses the relevant public about the source of the goods.。
Qibangbanggang Xintong-Let’s talk about it：Whether a previously well-known trademark is similar to someone else’s registered trademark。 【Case Introduction】Applicant for Trademark Cited Trademark Applicant：Luzhou Laojiao Co., Ltd. Reasons for application：The applied trademark is not similar to the cited trademark logo itself，And in the actual market，Apply for coexistence registration of trademark and cited trademark、Use will not cause confusion or misunderstanding among the relevant public。
Trademark Review and Adjudication：The applied trademark completely contains "Huan Tian", one of the prominent reading parts of the cited trademark.，Use on similar goods has constituted a similar trademark。 The applicant was dissatisfied and filed a lawsuit with the Shenzhen Intellectual Property Court.，Shenzhen Intellectual Property Court held that：The applied trademark consists of Chinese characters "Luzhou Laojiao"、Composed of "Erqu Baijiu" and "Huantian"。The cited trademark consists of the artistically processed Chinese characters "Huan Tianyuan" and a picture。
Although the trademark application contains the Chinese character "happy sky"，But the proportion is smaller，Not part of the distinctive identifying part of the applied trademark，The distinctive identifying part of the applied trademark should be the Chinese character "Luzhou Laojiao"。Compare applied trademarks to cited trademarks，Applying for trademarks and citing trademarks in glyphs、pronunciation、There are large differences in overall composition and other aspects，Relevant public can distinguish by ordinary attention，Does not constitute a similar trademark。
Even if the applied trademark and the cited trademark coexist on the same or similar goods，Nor will it cause confusion and misunderstanding among the relevant public about the source of the goods.。 The Trademark Review and Adjudication Board is dissatisfied with the judgment of the Shenzhen Intellectual Property Court，Appeal to Shenzhen Higher People's Court。After hearing, the Shenzhen Higher People’s Court held that：The applied trademark consists of Chinese characters "Luzhou Laojiao"、Composed of "Erqu Baijiu" and "Huantian"。
Among them, "Luzhou Laojiao"、“Erqu Baijiu” accounts for a large proportion of trademark applications，"Happy Sky" accounts for a smaller proportion。“Luzhou Laojiao”、“Erqu Baijiu” is the distinctive identifying part of the applied trademark。The cited trademark consists of the artistically processed Chinese characters "Huan Tian Yuan" and graphics.。
Compare applied trademarks to cited trademarks，Although the trademark application contains the Chinese character "happy sky"，But the proportion is smaller，Applying for trademarks and citing trademarks in glyphs、pronunciation、There are large differences in overall composition and other aspects，Relevant public can distinguish by applying general attention in isolation and comparison，Does not constitute a similar trademark。
The applied trademark and the cited trademark coexist on the same or similar goods，Because of its different overall structure and status visual effects，It will not cause the relevant public to confuse or misunderstand the source of the goods or think that there is a specific connection between the two.。therefore，Judgment rejects Trademark Review and Adjudication Board appeal，Uphold the original verdict。
[Judgment Result] The Trademark Review and Adjudication Board based on the final judgment of the Shenzhen Higher People’s Court，Determine the textual composition of the applied trademark and the cited trademark、There are certain differences in overall calls and other aspects，Does not constitute a similar trademark used on the same or similar goods，Preliminary review and approval of applied trademarks。
[Case Analysis] In previous cases，For trademarks with the structure of "applicant's prior well-known trademark + trademarks that are identical or similar to others' prior trademarks"，Most applications are rejected，like：Apply for the trademark "Guojiao 1573 Guoyun"，Citation "Guoyun" trademark rejected;Apply for the trademark "Huiyuan Zaoah"，Citations dismissed “early”;Apply for the trademark "Luzhou Laojiao Yongsheng Shaofang Jinfang Seal"，Citing "Jinyinfang" to reject。
The reason，In Shenzhen Intellectual Property Court(2025)Administrative Judgment No. 5085 of Jing 73 Bank Chu gave a clearer explanation：The applied trademark consists of the words "Luzhou Laojiao Yongsheng Shaofang Jinfang Seal"，Among them, "Luzhou Laojiao"、"Yongsheng Shaofang" are well-known trademarks previously registered by the plaintiff.，For the plaintiff’s main brand，"Jinfangyin" is a sub-brand under the two main brand products.。
According to the evidence submitted by the plaintiff,，This series of sub-brands also includes "Lan Fang Yin"、"Red Square Seal" etc.。This court considers that，In the same or similar product(Serve)between，Relevant public based on consumption habits、spending power、The impact of various factors such as differences in recognition of brand commercial cultural connotations，will make different purchasing choices。
Generally speaking，The creation of sub-brands is a commodity(Serve)The provider considers based on the above market factors，Business model adjustment and innovation in order to maximize market share and product profits。Specifically reflected in targeting different consumer groups、Product quality、Price and other factors，Further segmentation of the relevant publics of the master brand。
through corresponding commercial promotion and use，The relevant public's attention to the sub-brand should be at least no less important than the main brand's attention，Because it maximizes the needs of personalized consumption。As far as this case is concerned，The relevant public will recognize "Jinfang Seal" as an important part that cannot be ignored in the components of the trademark application.。The cited trademark consists of the words "Jinyinfang"，The trademark application for "Jinfang Yin" is different only in word order.，Has formed a similar trademark mark。
Since the applied trademark also includes “Luzhou Laojiao”、"Yongsheng Shaofang" two well-known trademarks，Relevant members of the public can establish corresponding contact with the plaintiff when they see the applied trademark.。but，It is precisely because the applied trademark contains a relatively well-known trademark，When the relevant public sees the trademark cited in this case，It is also easy to establish a connection between the cited trademark and the plaintiff.，Or mistakenly believe that the owner of the cited trademark is the plaintiff，thus causing confusion and misidentification of the source of the goods.。
To sum up，The applied trademark and the cited trademark have constituted similar trademarks used on the same or similar goods.。 therefore，Application trademarks in the above-mentioned forms，The court still adheres to the principle of protecting other people's prior trademark rights.，Trademarks applied for registration later should be reasonably avoided。Therefore, there is a basis for the Trademark Review and Adjudication Board to reject the applied trademark during the first review.。but，All cases cannot be generalized，It should also be combined with the trademark mark itself，Detailed judgment on specific cases。
The particularity of this case，It lies in the composition of applying for the trademark "Luzhou Laojiao Erqu Baijiu Huantian"，arranged in two rows，The cited trademark is "Huan Tianyuan"，The text has a high degree of artistic design，The overall visual effect tends to be graphic。
at the same time，The three characters "Huan Tianyuan" are traditional Chinese characters，In Shenzhen Intellectual Property Court(2025)Judgment standards reflected in Jingzhixingchuzi Administrative Judgment No. 6081，Comparison of simplified and traditional trademarks，Although they are simplified and traditional Chinese characters,，are the same in meaning，But the radical of the two words、writing differently，And the relevant public in mainland China are not very familiar with traditional Chinese characters.，When identifying, you may not necessarily connect modern writing with ancient writing.、correspond to。
Comprehensive composition of two trademarks、The overall structure and status are visually different.，In the case of isolation comparison，can be distinguished by applying normal attention，Therefore, it was determined that the trademarks were not similar。
[Conclusion and Suggestions] Well-known trademarks have higher visibility，If it is allowed to register in the form of "well-known trademark + trademark previously registered by others"，By virtue of the popularity of the existing well-known trademark, it will be easy to enter the market field where "others have registered trademarks first".，and further crowd out these enterprises with smaller market power from the market.，In the process of changing the market structure,，Well-known trademark rights holders put in less marketing effort，This will have an adverse impact on the market order of fair competition。
therefore，For the continuation of goodwill of well-known brands，Should remain within the original market scope of the well-known brand for which market efforts have been made，Rather than invading the market areas that have been opened up by other people’s prior trademarks。otherwise，It is easy for start-up brands to be unfairly squeezed out of the market without fair competition.，This will violate the market rules of fair competition。
therefore，Companies with well-known brands，During the registration process of the "well-known brand + sub-brand" trademark，The design of “sub-brands” should avoid prior registered trademarks，Preventing the rejection of trademark registration applications。
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