Recently, the name "Bird First Emperor" has sparked a heated discussion at Guangzhou East Station Yiluwei Restaurant.

According to the "Urban Express" of Shaanxi TV station, a netizen discovered on Guangzhou East Station that a braised restaurant called "Qin Shi Huang" had changed the name "Qin" in Qin Shi Huang to "Qin" as a brand.

The video content shows that there is also a yellow duck wearing a coronal pattern on the sign of "Bird First Emperor".

Comparing a generation of kings to a duck is undoubtedly a smear on historical celebrities, which is repulsive.

The reporter interviewed Huang Jingru, Executive Director of the Shaanxi Provincial Intellectual Property Judicial Case Study Center, on this matter. She said that many businesses adopt gimmicky methods to quickly establish their brands, and such homophonic slogans do not have a high style.

Huang Jingru said that this method also makes the people feel angry. In addition, it is highly likely to be recognized by the Trademark Office and the Market Supervision Bureau as violating socialist public ethics and having adverse effects.

On September 8th, the reporter contacted the Guangzhou Market Supervision and Administration Bureau, and the staff stated that they could file a complaint about the trademark being illegal. At present, the reporter has filed a complaint with relevant departments.

According to the public data, Avian Shihuang Food is the exclusive product of stewed meat produced by Shenzhen Avian Shihuang Roast and Brine Co., Ltd., which was founded in 2004 and mainly produces special meat and poultry roasted and brined food, such as braised salted duck, Red-Stewed Duck neck and feet.

Through investigation, it was found that Qinshihuang Company began to lay out the "Qinshihuang" trademark in multiple categories in 2010, and some of them have been successfully registered. Except for Qinshihuang Company, a liquor company in Guangdong and a biotechnology company in Shandong have all applied for the "Qinshihuang" related trademark.

Can historical celebrity names be applied for trademark registration?

China's trademark law does not explicitly prohibit the use of historical celebrity names for trademark registration.

However, for the names of celebrities, it is generally not possible to register them casually, as their names are often considered to have high popularity and commercial value. If a trademark is registered without authorization, it may infringe on the reputation and trademark rights of celebrities.

But in some cases, the name of a celebrity can be registered as a trademark, such as if the celebrity has passed away or if the name has become part of the public domain. But this situation also needs to be judged based on different laws and specific circumstances.

However, if, during commercial use, the trademark is associated with the name of a historical celebrity, which is enough to evoke associations among consumers, mistakenly believing that there is a certain association between these names and the celebrity themselves, thereby causing damage; When problems such as negative impacts arise in society, the state can restrict them through public power.

However, although the Trademark Law itself does not have direct normative provisions regarding the registration and use of historical celebrity names as trademarks, there are relatively clear indirect normative or conversion normative provisions, such as prohibited registration marks that constitute "harmful to socialist moral customs or have other adverse effects".

So, it is still important to be cautious when applying for historical celebrity trademarks or homophones.

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