On the occasion of the twenty-sixth world intellectual property day, the country's financial sector has witnessed a steady deepening of its efforts. Microbank's classic case of intellectual property rights advocacy in its brand name, microbank v. Ishiki and four false intermediaries in a dispute over trademark rights and unfair competition, was successfully selected as one of the top 10 cases of intellectual property rights in the hubei provincial high people's court。
In this case, the law strictly combats the abuse of illegal financial intermediation and establishes the legal framework for the protection of intellectual property rights in the digital finance sector, providing a model for the consideration of similar cases, as well as a firm legal foundation for the special management of financial black-and-shell production and the orderly development of financial markets。
In response to the black-and-happiness treatment, operation dust is an illegal intermediary. Rights
As the country's first digital bank, microbank has a higher profile and public awareness within the financial industry of the trademarks registered with “micro-banks”. In response to the special management deployment of the financial black ash production sector, microbanks have launched a special “discovery operation” focusing on the abuse of various types of illegal intermediaries who are impersonating brand names and maliciously adopting them, the normalization of financial black ash production, the effective defence of their own legitimate brand interests and the protection of financial consumer property and information security。
The subject of this violation is one of four intermediate companies under effective control, all of which have no equity, business cooperation and authorized licensing relationship with microbank. The subject was identified as using the “one set of people, many brands” model, highlighting the use of “micro” trademarks and characters in various business scenarios, such as business premises, online navigation platforms and recruitment channels. This violation not only directly infringes the legitimate rights and interests of microbanks in trademarks, harms brand market goodwill, but is also highly susceptible to misleading financial consumers in making the wrong trade choices and disrupting the fair competitive market order in the digital finance industry。
In order to defend the law, to clarify the knowledge of the market subjects and to protect the legitimate interests of consumers, the bank filed a legal complaint with the wuhan city intermediate people's court。
Justice to punish abuses and demonstrate the commitment of hubei to justice
The wuhan council strictly adheres to the principle of evidentiary adjudication, focusing on the core issues of trademark infringement, the definition of unfair competition and liability for infringement, the comprehensive verification of key evidence such as stock structure, ownership of business premises, management of personnel and operation of operations, the accurate verification of all violations of the facts of the case, the delivery of first-instance judgements in accordance with the law, and the clear determination of the judiciary to vigorously combat abuses of intellectual property rights in the financial sphere, address the malicious escalation of illicit intermediaries and maintain a level playing field in financial markets。
The court found that four financial information services and financial management-related operations involving illicit intermediaries fell into the same category as financial services under category 36 as approved for use in the trademarks of “micro-banks”. Without obtaining any authorization for the use of the trademarks of microbanks, the prominent use of the same labels as the registered trademarks in question, such as in the premises, web platforms, etc., is sufficient to create confusion among the public and financial consumers about the subject of the services provided, the source of the services, and constitutes, by law, a trademark violation。
At the same time, the term “micro” as a long-standing business name used by micro-banks with high market visibility has acquired significant characteristics for identifying market subjects and is strictly protected by law. Unauthorized registration of the name “micro” by the company involved and its use for the actual operation of the business, the apparent intent of subjective adhesion to goodwill, and the negative impact of its unregulated conduct on the reputation of microbanks, constitute undue competition。
In response to a malicious act involving the establishment of multiple companies, the deliberate decentralization of tort liability and the circumvention of legal accountability, the court, in conjunction with evidence of the concentration of the four companies'stock structures, the re-establishment of their business addresses, the unification of the management of personnel and the coordinated operation of their operations, determined by law that the four intermediary companies were under the effective control of one of them, that they were the subject of a joint venture and that they were subject to joint and several liability for the violations in question. As a de facto controlr, ishiki is jointly and severally liable for payment of the entire financial obligation involved。
According to the court's first-instance judgement, the defendant must immediately cease all violations of the right of the micro-bank to register trademarks; three of the companies involved change the name of the business within 30 days of the entry into force of the judgement and the name may not contain the same or similar characters as “micros”; three companies are required to publish in the chinese intellectual property report a written statement, examined by the court, clarifying that there is no interest, operation, authorization or licensing relationship with the micro-bank and eliminating the adverse social effects of the violation; and four intermediaries involved in the case and persons under effective control, stone, together with compensation for the financial loss of the micro-bank and the reasonable cost of defence, amounting to $2. 6 million, totalling $2. 8 million. Since the judgement was rendered, neither of the parties has appealed and the judgement has entered into force。
By virtue of its clear jurisprudence, clear definition of responsibilities and rigorous accountability, the case was a typical case of intellectual property rights in the hubei high court, which served as a model case law for the judicial system in hubei province to regulate intellectual property rights abuses in the financial field and to combat illicit brokering in black-and-shell production。
Protection of intellectual property rights, leading to equitable access to finance and quality development
The case is a living example of world intellectual property day's judicial protection practice and a typical example of the deeper integration of financial black-and-shell-specific management with intellectual property legal protection, creating a strong judicial deterrent to industry-wide abuses of illicit brokering services under the guise of well-known formal financial institutions。
The case clearly delineates the criteria for judicial determination of trademark infringement and unfair competition in the financial field, explicitly establishes as a matter of priority the mixing of well-known trademark numbers with multiple subjects, the thorough removal of outlaws from their business and the evading of their legal responsibilities, and provides an important reference for provincial courts in similar cases of financial intelligence, as well as a replicable and replicable model for intellectual property protection in the financial sector throughout the country。
Here, microbanks are also alerting financial consumers to illegal financial intermediation traps and raising awareness of financial security. Any attempt to impersonate me as a financial service, to collect fees, to induce transfers or to obtain sensitive personal information is a violation of the law. If suspicious cases are detected, such as counterfeit brands, false propaganda and so forth, you should report them in a timely manner through the official channel of the microbank, in order to safeguard your property and information and maintain a healthy and orderly financial consumption environment。
