Zhang Yumin & Ling Zongliang

Edgar Bodenheimer commented that: “The will to offer a person the thing what he or she deserves is an important and universally effective element in the conception of justice. Without this element, justice is unlikely to have power in the society.”[1][1]In order to realize the value of justice in juridical protection of trademark rights, it is required to define accurately the scope of validity of trademark right, by which enabling trademark owners and competitors as well as the public to play their proper roles. It is also clearly stipulated in the Opinions of the Supreme People’s Court on Several Issues Concerning the Overall Situation of Trial Services for Intellectual Properties Under Current Economic Conditions (FF [2009] No. 23) that: “The exclusive attribute of trademark right shall be used correctly and the range of trademark right shall be defined reasonably to ensure reasonable utilization of trademark resources while maintaining fair competition.” However, existing definitions and discussions on the scope of validity of trademark right are vague, which makes some troubles for juridical practices. The scope of validity of trademark right should include two aspects: the boundary of right and the limitation of right. As the correct differentiation and application of these two aspects is of theoretical and practical significance to clearly distinguishing between the trademark infringement and the unfair competition as well as the trademark infringement and the fair use, the author hopes that discussions in this thesis can be helpful to clearly defining the scope of validity of trademark right, and thereby meeting appeals for realizing the value of justice in the protection of trademark rights.