美国商标局多措并举打击商标欺诈行为

Introduction

导言

国内外企业越来越意识到美国商标注册的价值和好处。不幸的是，随着过去一年中商标新申请数量的历史性激增，USPTO也看到了从不准确到欺诈的可疑申请（suspicious submissions）的数量增加。商务部监察长办公室在分析数据快照（2019年10月2日至2020年4月30日期间提交的申请）后发现，我们需要加强控制措施以应对可疑申请的增加。我们赞成，并且近期内一直在积极加强我们的注册保护工作以应对这一挑战。我们商标注册的完整性和准确性对我们的经济、各地企业和USPTO来说比以往任何时候都更加重要。

The rise in fraudulent trademark filings and trademark-related scams has driven us to implement new strategies and tactics to intensify our attack against those who would seek to undermine the value and legitimacy of this important intellectual property right. A change of approach, which we embarked on several years ago, was necessary to confront an unprecedented threat, one that is common among industries dealing with the scourge of counterfeits, fakes, illicit trade, and even piracy. We believe the best way to fight trademark application fraud and scams and to aggressively safeguard our trademark register is to pivot to a comprehensive brand protection-type strategy.

虚假商标申请和商标相关欺诈行为的增加促使我们实施新的策略和战术，以加大对那些试图破坏这一重要知识产权的价值和合法性的人的打击力度。我们几年前开始改变方法，以应对前所未有的威胁，这种威胁在处理假冒、赝品、不法贸易甚至盗版行为中很常见。我们相信，打击虚假商标申请和欺诈并积极保护我们的商标注册的最佳方法是转向全面的品牌保护型战略。

As of this writing, the USPTO has experienced a 40+% increase in trademark applications over the past year, representing the greatest number of new trademark applications in history. This increase in applications has been driven by a number of factors during the pandemic, including the growth of cross-border e-commerce, foreign government subsidies, and a tremendous rise in new business formation. Thousands of foreign manufacturers that want to sell directly to U.S. consumers have been told that they need a U.S.-registered trademark for their products to receive priority position on e-commerce sales platforms. Even though this is not necessarily true, the phenomenon has spawned new low-cost filing mills, multi-national scams, and even created a secondary market for buying and selling U.S. trademark registrations.

在撰写本文时，USPTO的商标申请数量在过去一年中增长了40%以上，这是历史上商标新申请数量最多的一次。新冠疫情期间，申请量的增长受到跨境电商的增长、外国政府补贴以及新公司设立数量的巨大增长等多种因素的推动。数千家想直接向美国消费者出售商品的外国制造商被告知，他们的产品需要在美国注册商标才能在电商销售平台上获得优先地位。尽管这不一定是真的，但这种现象催生了新的低成本“申请工厂”、跨国欺诈行为，甚至创造了买卖美国商标的二级市场。

As a result, low-cost trademark filing companies claiming to specialize in the acquisition of U.S. trademarks have aggressively been marketing their services to potential and unsuspecting clients. Most foreign manufacturers and sellers have little or no experience with U.S. trademark laws and registration procedures so they don’t know whether or not these services are legitimate. 

因此，声称专门从事美国商标收购的低成本商标申请公司一直在积极向潜在的毫无戒心的客户推销他们的服务。大多数外国制造商和销售商对美国商标法和注册程序几乎没有经验，因此他们不知道这些服务是否合法。

Conversely, many foreign agents are aware of the USPTO rules, yet try to find ways to circumvent them. For example, they hijack the credentials of attorneys licensed in the U.S. or they enter into relationships with questionable U.S. attorneys who rubber-stamp whatever paperwork they provide. The U.S. trademark registration system has historically relied upon the good faith intentions of its customers and their counsel. These illicit operators, however, are trying to game the system in order to illegally obtain U.S. registrations.

相反，许多外国代理人知道美国专利商标局的规定，但仍试图找到规避这些规定的方法。 例如，他们盗用美国执业律师的资格，或者与有问题的美国律师建立关系，这些律师在他们提供的任何文书上盖上橡皮图章（意为不经审查即批准——编者注）。 美国商标注册制度历来依赖于其客户及其律师的善意意图。然而，这些不法经营者正试图利用该系统来非法获得美国商标注册。

Traditionally, our examining attorneys have been on the front lines of this fight, but conducting investigations instead of examinations only does a disservice to legitimate applicants seeking trademark registrations. Moreover, the examination process does not always efficiently lend itself to discovering wider patterns of fraud and improper behavior that often taint many applications at a time. 

一直以来，我们的审查员一直站在这场斗争的前线，但以调查代替审查只会伤害想要注册商标的合法申请人。此外，审查过程并不总能有效地发现更广泛的欺诈和不当行为模式，而这些行为通常会一次影响大量注册申请。

利用数据点跟踪类似申请的特别工作组

Special Task Force for Tracking Applications from Same Data Points

说明理由命令

Show-cause Orders

Post-Registration Proof of Use Audit Program

第三方质疑

Third-Party Challenges