China has put considerable emphasis on protecting intellectual property (IP) rights since it implemented ‘Reform and Opening-Up’ policy in the late 1970s. The nation has actively participated in communication and cooperation with its trading partners and international society in IP region. In particular, since its accession to the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property (Paris Convention) in 1985, China has reformed its socialist legal system to meet international obligations. This trend continued with China’s entry to the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property (TRIPS) under the World Trade Organization (WTO) in late 2001. A well-known trademark is a trademark well known by the relevant public. Compared to a common trademark, it will be given higher level of protection against infringements. A well-established well-known trademark legal framework can considerably protect interests of owners of domestic and foreign well-known trademarks. China begun to offer such protection since the 1980s. During the pre-WTO period, it granted well-known status determination on an ad-hoc basis under a ‘Sole-Track’ model which was solely led by administrative authorities. This model has been considered to be weak and offered no systematic protection to well-known trademark holders. China’s admission to the WTO in 2001 pushed the country to create a ‘Dual-Track’ model which incorporates judicial and administrative authorities and to amend its IP laws in compliance with the international norms. Since then, the situation of well-known trademark protection has been considerably improved, although some problems remained. There is, however, widespread criticism in the US government and from some scholars that the IP laws in China governing well-known trademarks are inadequate. However, this is not necessarily accurate, as it is based not on comprehensive legal analysis but on the data mainly collected from interested parties of the US side, whether they are companies or government officials, or a fragment of cases. This thesis adopted doctrinal legal research method to demonstrate and evaluate some substantial legal principles, concepts, rules and policy concerning well-known trademark recognition and protection in China over the past three decades (1985 – 2015). It challenged that criticism by raising four questions and exploring their answers. The legal analysis in this thesis showed that since the 2000s, China has protected well-known trademarks more effectively than before. In conclusion, although some problems remain to be solved, the criticism above should be rejected. Meanwhile, this thesis also offered suggestions of further development, highlighted the need for the competent authorities to continue to reform the laws and policy, and strengthen their enforcement in order to tackle unsolved problems.

The primary objective of the study as contained in this thesis is the discussion of the approaches to dilution taken by the legal systems of the European Union and South Africa. Although a comparative methodology is employed the discussion grounds the separate development of the anti-dilution provisions in both systems first before discussing comparisons and diverging approaches (should they exist). As a result of the South African anti-dilution provisions being relatively new, there exists a lot of overlap between the approaches in the United Kingdom, European Union and South Africa. Dilution both as a concept and a reality remains controversial as both the courts and commentators grapple with how it fits within greater Trade Mark law. The relationship between traditional infringement and dilution is equally contentious as questions continue to be asked about the relevance of the anti-dilution provisions when traditional infringement already exists and is effective. A question that is constantly asked is: can there be infringement without confusion? Equally contentious is the issue of whether a parody exception should be introduced in Trade Mark law even though there is minimal litigation around the issue of parody and dilution.

The thesis focuses on the concept of parallel imports in the Czech law in light of the judicature of the European Court of Justice. In the first part of the thesis, after a brief introduction to the Czech trademark law, the thesis seeks to define the individual competencies of trademark owners and their restrictions, with an emphasis on the concept of exhaustion of the rights towards the trademark. The second part of the thesis focuses exclusively on the concept of parallel imports within the European Union and the European Economic Area and their impact on the internal market. The issue of exhaustion of the ownerʼs rights towards the trademark, being closely related to parallel imports and without which parallel imports as such could not exist, represent a key part of the European Court of Justiceʼs rulings. The analysis of the rulings conducted in the thesis demonstrates that the possibilities of trademark owners to inhibit parallel imports are significantly limited and that the European Court of Justice tends to assign greater importance to protecting the internal market than to protecting the subjective rights of the trademark owners.

IN ENGLISH Trade mark law and the issues of parallel imports under Czech law The purpose of the thesis is to analyze the trade mark law and the issues of parallel imports under Czech law. The thesis describes the present situation in the Czech Republic, points out the influence of the European Union and considers the impact of the current regulation of parallel imports concerning trademarked goods. The paper also focuses on the court decisions of the Court of Justice of the European Union which have great effect on the law effective in the Czech Republic. The reason for my research is the ongoing international discussion on that topic and the necessity to find balance among contrary interests of trademark owners, parallel importers and consumers. The aim of the thesis is presented at the beginning. The next chapter of the thesis is introductory and defines basic terminology in general. The third chapter looks at the Czech legislation connected to the topic and highlights its connection to the European law. The next section analyzes the law of the European Union and is subdivided into three parts. The first part outlines the historical context and sets out the basic facts. The next part is concerned with a leading principle used in the European Union - the principle of community exhaustion. The last...

Since Google as the world's largest and most popular search engine encourages Internet users to browse their search results, it is naturally functioning as an advertising vehicle and has turned into the most profitable Internet company in world's history. Google's success, however, has been subject to strong criticism as one of the main concerns is linked to Google AdWords, which reveal keyword-triggered advertisements as well as sponsored links besides unsponsored search results. Courts both in Europe and the United States under different trademark legislation felt forced to address the collision of pre-Internet trademark infringement doctrines with modern technology.  As Google AdWords have changed the way consumers observe Internet advertisements and search engines, the boundaries of trademark law have continuously been pushed forward. This development, thus, raises the question of whether Google AdWords by now are considered to function as trade liberalizer or trade infringer under two different trademark jurisdictions.  What is certain as of now is, that if the current circumstances are to change, courts cannot solely rely on old doctrines to adapt to new situations. Instead, new rules should not be subject to isolated court proceedings by individual instances regarded that jurisdictions of courts are limited by territorial boundaries and Google AdWords have evolved as an element of borderless online sphere. Taking these new challenges into account, this paper argues that addressing trademark issues originated by AdWords will demand an international consideration and coordinated efforts between the EU and the United States to bring forward an international solution.

Analysis of dissertation is focused on problematic aspects of trademark license agreement that exist throughout the conclusion, validity and termination of a contract. Problematic aspects are understood as legal interpretation cases where common and special norms have to be interpreted taking into account specifics of a contract object (right to a trademark). Problematic aspects are conditioned by two reasons: non comprehensive regulation of trademark license and sui generis nature of a contract. Those aspects are related to registration of license in trademark register, legal status of parties of license agreement, right to a trademark (its validity and modifications), transfer of a right to trademark, competition law, delimitation of trademark license agreement from other types of agreements and other problematic aspects. It is concluded that trademark license registration system does not correspond to the tendencies of modern trademark law anymore and registration system should be transformed by refusing of license registration as a condition to use license against third parties, however, leaving a possibility to register license if any of the parties wish to do so; right to apply to a court should be broadened for a non-exclusive license; licensee should not be per se deemed acting unfairly if he takes an action to revoke a trademark that is being license to him because of non use or invalidate it is because of non compliance to absolute grounds; absence of quality... [to full text] / Disertacijoje nagrinėjami prekių ženklo licencinės sutarties probleminiai aspektai, egzistuojantys licencinės sutarties sudarymo, jos galiojimo ir pasibaigimo metu. Probleminiai aspektai darbe suprantami kaip sutartį reglamentuojančių teisės normų aiškinimo atvejai, kuriems esant bendrąsias ir specialiąsias teisės normas būtina aiškinti atsižvelgiant į sutarties objekto (teisės į prekių ženklą) specifiką. Probleminiai aspektai yra sąlygojami dviejų priežasčių: neišsamaus licencinės sutarties reglamentavimo ir sui generis sutarties pobūdžio. Tai aspektai, susiję su sutarties registracija prekių ženklų registre, su sutarties šalių teisiniu statusu, su teise į prekių ženklą (jos galiojimu ar modifikavimu), šios teisės perdavimu, konkurencijos teise, licencinės sutarties atribojimu nuo kitų sutarčių ir bei kiti probleminiai aspektai. Darbe daromos išvados, jog prekių ženklų licencinių sutarčių registracijos sistema neatitinka šiuolaikinės teisės tendencijų ir licencinės sutarties registracijos kaip sąlygos sutartį panaudoti prieš trečiuosius asmenis turėtų būti atsisakyta, tačiau paliekant galimybę registruoti sutartį vienos iš sutarties šalių valia; siūloma išplėsti neišimtinio licenciato teisės kreiptis į teismą ribas; pažymima, kad licenciato veiksmai ginčijant jam licencijuojamą ženklą remiantis absoliučiais ženklo negaliojimo pagrindais ar dėl ženklo nenaudojimo neturėtų būti laikomi savaime nesąžiningais; licenciaro atliekamos kokybės kontrolės licencinėje sutartyje... [toliau žr. visą tekstą]

The trademark guarantees market transparency and protecting clear communicative channel between innovative product and consumer rather than rewarding creators or creating direct incentives for the inventor like in Intellectual Property and Patent. However, unfair advantages of the trademark are rising to new challenges because of complex average consumer behaviour. Nevertheless extended protections of the trademark can also create obstacles to innovation and market competition. Therefore, to understand the unfair advantages and associated challenges in the trademark in this thesis the research focus is kept on unfair advantages linked with likelihood of confusion and dilution and its possible limitations, and finally problem with existing approach to determine the unfair advantages.

The purpose of the thesis is to analyse the phenomenon of parallel imports, define the pros and cons of parallel trade for respective entities and also society as a whole as well as describe how the trademark law may influence parallel importation of trademarked goods. In addition, the thesis analyses individual means of legal protection against parallel imports identified as illegal. After the introduction summarizing why it is appropriate to deal with the parallel importation phenomenon, the second part of the thesis describes the basic concepts in the context of parallel import issues: trademarks, parallel imports and exhaustion of trademark rights. The second part also describes the positive and negative impacts of parallel trade and why the doctrine of exhaustion of trademark rights appears to be the most appropriate way how to solve the difficulties in the relationship between trademark owners and parallel importers. The third part of the thesis aims to provide a reader with the basic sources of law which affect the phenomenon of parallel importation from the trademark law's point of view. As it follows from the third part of the thesis and also the whole work, the key legal source for the European region, including the Czech Republic, is the law of the European Union together with the case...

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Development Trends in Trademark Law Abstract This thesis deals with the development trends in trademark law in terms of the development of the subject matter of trademark law, i.e. trademarks. In particular, it seeks to answer three questions. Firstly, what are the trends of the development of trademark law from the point of view of the subject matter of trademark law. Secondly, whether the abolition of the requirement of graphic representation has the effect on the development of trademarks as intended by Directive (EU) 2015/2436 of the European Parliament and of the Council. And thirdly, what development of the subject matter of trademark law can be expected in the future. This thesis tries to answer these questions with the help of legal regulations, professional literature, methodological guidelines and decision-making practice of courts and competent authorities. The thesis is divided into six chapters, which are then divided into subchapters. The first chapter theoretically deals with the trademark as such. It focuses mainly on the position of trademark law within the framework of intellectual property law, important trademark principles and the functions of a trademark. The first chapter ends with an analysis of the relationship between trademark law and the law against unfair competition. The second...