Abstract: Sound mark examination legislation has been existing in European countries for a long period. In order to comply with Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs) agreement and international trend of trademark registration, the new Trademark Law of the People′s Republic of China came into effect in May 1st, 2014, which clarified sound mark could be registered for the first time. However, owing to distinctive features of sound mark, protection of sound mark is still in the exploration stage, and development of theoretical basis and practice are not mature and relevant legal system is not perfect either This paper intends to analyze current examination standard of sound mark in our country from the distinctiveness of sound mark, and explore the principles and basis of sound mark examination by referring to foreign regulations It is proposed that based on the existing examination standard, principles of overall identity and non-aggression prior rights should be added, and exclusive continuous using time, public recognition, advertising and dynamic innovation should be introduced to the examination basis of sound mark distinctiveness

Key words:  sound mark, distinctiveness, examination standard