Recently, our firm won the first instance of an administrative litigation case for invalidation of an invention patent, in which it is ruled that the invention patent should be comp...
Introduction In the chemical field, it is difficult to seek invalidation of a patent claiming to have achieved unexpected technical effect. This case provides a strategy for success...
Taking Free Ride of “FILA” in Bad Faith–Punitive Damages Awarded in the Second Instance
A trademark infringement dispute involving the well-known fashion sports brand “FILA” was recently concluded by the High People’s Court of Jiangsu Province. The court determined that the accused infringing party had obvious intentional and serious infringement, and the punitive damages were applied. The first instance judgment of CNY 500,000 compensation was raised to more than CNY 3.62 million.
The first instance judgment indicated that the defendant Nanjing Xinyue Qianqian Cosmetics Co., Ltd. and its shareholders sold counterfeited clothes and pants labeled with FILA’s registered trademarks. Such act infringed the plaintiff's exclusive trademark right involved in the case, with a total sales amount of more than CNY 6 million. The first instance court ruled that the defendant shall compensate the plaintiff a total of CNY 500,000.
FILA was unsatisfied with such a low compensation determined by the first instance judgment and appealed. FILA asserted that the infringement by the defendant was obvious and deliberate, which can be proved by the long time selling of the allegedly infringing goods and the huge business scale, and the defendant had an obvious purpose of taking the free ride of FILA's brand reputation. Therefore, FILA claimed a 1.5 times punitive damages should be applied.
After the trial, the High People’s Court of Jiangsu Province held that the defendant established willful and severe infringement. The court supported FILA’s claim of 1.5 times the punitive damages in the second instance and made the judgment after comprehensive consideration. (China Trade News, September 13, 2024)
A 30-year Dispute between the Two “Delixi” Ended –Final Judgment Made by Shanghai Intellectual Property Court
Over the years, Delixi Group (also used as the trade name since 1991) has filed multiple complaints and lawsuits against Shanghai Delixi Switch (established in 1994) and its affiliate companies for infringing Delixi Group’s rights of the trade name, trademark, etc. Hence, a series of affiliate companies of Shanghai Delixi, like Delixi Decoration, Delixi Industry, Delixi United Switch Group, etc., were forced to rename or dissolve, but the Shanghai Delixi as the core remains till today.
On September 19, with a 67-page final judgment issued by the Shanghai Intellectual Property Court, this long-term dispute finally ended. The court found that Shanghai Delixi Switch’s use of "Delixi" in its trade name was intended to take a free ride on Delixi Group’s reputation subjectively, which may easily cause public confused in an objective manner. Such acts constituted unfair competition. Thus, the court ordered Shanghai Delixi to cease using the trade name containing Delixi and compensate Delixi Group an economic loss of CNY 5 million. (Shanghai Securities News, September 24, 2024)
Unfair-competition
The Pokémon Wins CNY 107 Million Lawsuit in the First Instance of the Infringement over Pocket Monster Reissue
The Pokémon Company released the first instance judgment of the copyright infringement and unfair competition over the Pocket Monster Reissue. The court ordered the defendant Guangzhou Maichi Network Technology Co., Ltd. to compensate CNY 107 million in total for economic losses and reasonable costs of rights enforcement.
The first instance of Shenzhen Intermediate People’s Court found that the core elements of the accused game, such as Pokémon, protagonist, maps, and other core elements are corresponding and similar to the elements of the games of Pokémon Company. The multiple main systems formed by the combination of game elements are highly similar or identical, and many of the design of calculation systems are the same. Therefore, the specific expression of the story of the accused game and Pokémon Company’s game is substantially similar. The accused game infringed the copyright of Pokémon Company’s game. In addition, the court of first instance also found that the operation and promotion of the accused game violated Article 2 and Paragraph 1 of Article 8 of the Anti-Unfair Competition Law and constituted unfair competition. Therefore, the court made the above judgment.
The defendant has appealed against the above first instance judgment. (IT House, Sep. 13th, 2024)
Statistics
SAMR Releases Annual Report on China’s Anti-Unfair Competition Law Enforcement (2023)
The State Administration of Market Regulation recently released the Annual Report on China’s Anti-Unfair Competition Law Enforcement (2023).
According to the report, in 2023, a total of 12,496 cases of unfair competition were investigated and handled nationwide, with the fines reached CNY 582 million, including 2,187 cases of unfair competition on the internet.
It is reported that the Interim Provisions on Anti-Unfair Competition on the Internet have been implemented on Sep. 1st, 2024; and the amendment to the Anti-Unfair Competition Law of the People's Republic of China is also moving forward orderly. (Chinanews.com, Sep. 12th, 2024)
2024 Global 5G SEPs Ranking Released
Recently, China Academy of Information and Communications Technology (CAICT) released the Global 5G SEPs and Standard Proposals Research Report (2024). The Report indicates that in 2024, five Chinese enterprises entered the top ten list of global standard essential patents, with Huawei being the top followed by ZTE and Xiaomi. China continues to holdthe proportion of 50%.
The enterprises that entered into the top 10 remain the same as last year’s, only the rankings and the numbers changed. Among the 2024 world top 10 enterprises, in terms of patents, LG, Ericsson, and Xiaomi were improved. Specifically, Xiaomi took two steps forward. (National Business Daily, Sep. 27th, 2024)
