论我国对商标平行进口的法律对策——兼评长沙MICHELIN牌轮胎平行进口案

平行进口既与国家知识产权保护策略有关,也与国家的贸易利益有关。我国是贸易大国,对商标平行进口选择适用国际穷尽原则对我国最为有利。但在允许平行进口的同时,法律应当完善对消费者和商标权利人的保护。所以,当进口产品与国内权利人销售的产品存在实质性差异时,应当构成例外,允许权利人阻止平行进口;商标独占许可人一般未从平行进口商品的首次销售中获利,因而也应当允许其阻止平行进口。

On China's Legal Strategy for Parallel Importation of Trade Mark Products — With Comments on MICHELIN Case

Parallel importation relates not only to a state’s strategy for the protection of intellectual property rights,but also to its trade interests.China is a big trading state and therefore it is most advantageous for it to adopt the doctrine of international exhaustion for parallel importation of trade mark prodccts.However,China must improve its protection for consumers and trade mark holders when it allows parallel importation.Hence it must allow,as an exception,the right-holders to block parallel importation when there are substantial differences between imported products and those sold by domestic right-holders.An exclusive trade mark licensee should be permitted to block parallel importation as he normally has acquired nothing from the first sale of the paralleled imports.