Is the trade name right an intellectual property right? As far as this issue is concerned, trade names are closely related to trademarks. Trade names that meet the requirements of the trademark law can also be registered as trademarks, such as "Haier" in China, "Coca Cola" in the United States, and "Sony" in Japan.

However, there are many differences between trade names and trademarks, which are mainly reflected in the following aspects: first, trade names are the signs that distinguish and identify different commercial subjects, and trademarks are the signs that distinguish and identify the goods produced or services provided by different commercial subjects. Therefore, a commercial subject can only have one trade name, but can have many trademarks representing different goods or services. For example, "Shanghai Unilever United Co., Ltd." has only one trade name, "Unilever", but has many trademarks such as "lux", "Piao Rou" and "Zhonghua". Second, the trade name is a sign that every commercial subject has, and not every commercial subject has a trademark or registered trademark. Third, the ownership of the trade name right has no time limit. It exists together with the existence of the commercial subject. There is no time limit. However, the registered trademark has a time limit. If it is not renewed within the specified time limit, the holder of the registered trademark will no longer have the ownership of the trademark.

According to the current legal provisions of our country, there are several differences between trademarks and trade names. First, commercial subjects only exercise the exclusive right to trade names within the jurisdiction of the registration authority, and registered trademarks are protected by law throughout the country. Second, in our country, the trademark right has the special trademark law protection; The trade name right is only protected by referring to the protection methods of the general principles of the civil law on the right of enterprise name. When some enterprises register their own trade name as a trademark, or change the registered trademark into an enterprise's trade name, the trademark and the trade name become the same content or an integral part of it. This is permitted by the trademark law, the company law and the regulations on the administration of enterprise registration.

But in more cases, because many trade names do not have significant characteristics, they should not and cannot be registered as trademarks. Because trademarks and trade names can be registered or registered with each other, some people with impure intentions take advantage of this to register words that are the same or similar to other people's well-known trademarks as business names of enterprises, or register words that are the same or similar to other people's well-known enterprise names as trademarks. It attempts to confuse the source of commodities and enterprises, so that people mistakenly think that they are from the same source or have related connections, and borrow others' reputation and influence to earn profits. This is the so-called "near famous brand" phenomenon that often occurs in China in recent years.