On 26 april this year, the twenty-second world intellectual property day, the middle people's court of nakayama city published six typical cases of judicial protection of intellectual property rights, in the areas of trademark rights, copyright rights, further raising public awareness of intellectual property rights protection in society by means of case law, and ringing alarms for violators。
Case 1
Sale of counterfeit “adi” “nike” trademark clothing, sentenced to three years and six months' imprisonment
Starting in 2017, liu chia and sha chii made fake adidas, nike, boma and fai lak at low foreign prices ranging from $40 to $51 each. In november 2019, members of the security forces captured liu chia and sha chii and seized a total of 45,505 fake brand-registered clothing。
The court found, after trial, that the brand markings used on the seized garments appeared to be quite different from those of the originals and were very easy to misperceive by consumers. More than 40,000 “fakes” worth $207,2452 were seized, based on actual sales prices. It is an offence for liu to impersonate a trademark without the permission of a brand member to make a fraudulent sale. They were sentenced to three years and six months ' imprisonment and a fine of 250,000 yuan。
Registered trademarks are important objects of state protection of intellectual property rights, not only as external identifiers of goods or services, but also as bearers of deeper elements such as the credibility, culture, etc. Of enterprises. Some of liu's fake trademarks are well-known brands of consumers, which not only seriously harm branders and consumers but also disrupt the normal market economy order. The judgement in this case strongly protected the exclusive use rights of the trademark owner, combated the criminal activities of counterfeit trademarks and led to the establishment and maintenance of a good trademark management order。
Case 2
Unauthorized sales of licensed processed products should be liable for trademark infringement
A company of excellence has been working with jay for many years, and since 2012, a company of excellence has been entrusting jay with the “poster” of the model to produce the pressure valve and authorizing jay to use the it. Yes registration trademark on the product。
In may 2020, under the supervision of a notary, a company of excellence purchased, in the name of others, a stable pressure valve bearing the symbol “it. Yes” from a company in jay. During the trial, one of the companies admitted that the pressure valves sold were assembled. The “poster” production, which is a scheduled processing process, is bought by the client. Although a corporation in jay was authorized to use the “it. Yes” trademark on the product, it was not able to sell the product in private, except for delivery to the client. As a result, there was an unauthorized sale of licensed processed products by one of the companies, and the court held it liable for civil liability for cessation of the infringement and compensation for damages。
In the present case, the unauthorized sale of commissioned processed products by a trusted company, without the permission of the client, was not only a breach of the contract but also an infringement of the client's trademark rights. Under article 122 of the law of the people's republic of china on contracts, the client has the option to hold the trustee liable for breach of contract or for infringement of the trademark。
Case 3
Small businesses are selling cheaply to imitate tcl electricity and are awarded damages and defence expenses
Since last year, the municipal intermediate court has heard dozens of cases of trademark abuse by small businesses and tcl. Of these, after being sued by tcl, an electric dealer in the west region sold a television set marked "zek ace" and was awarded 9,000 yuan in compensation for economic loss and reasonable defence expenses; a department store in ancient town sold a television set "tgl" and was awarded $10,000 in compensation to tcl; and an electronic store in sacrÉ sold a television set "tgl ace" and was awarded $8,500. The trademarks used for the goods against which the infringement was committed are similar to those used by tcc's registered trademark “tcl ace” “tcl”, which amounts to a tort of impersonating the registration of trademarks by others。
However, according to the case before the nakayama city court, the counterfeiting of well-known trademarks for household appliances has been found in almost all the towns of nakayama city, and it is clear that the intellectual property protection of a large number of small businesses is less conscious。
The court found that, as an electronic distributor, small businesses could not have been unaware of the famous trademark of household electricity. In addition to violating the exclusive rights of others to register trademarks, some small businesses have disrupted the normal socio-economic order by selling goods imitating well-known trademarks at low prices in order to improve their sales performance. Under the trademarks act and related judicial interpretations, these small businesses are liable for abuses. Legal sanctions can be effectively avoided only if the strings of intellectual property protection are tightened and speculation eliminated。
Case 4
Ktv's unpaid copyright fees are claimed and the author's work has been violated rights
In 2021, chansung cultural media inc., shanghai, sued a ktv violator of copyright in nakayama town. The ktv unauthorized recording of author rights in the on-demand equipment at the business premises was the music television of the chansing company, and the on-demand equipment was used to show the works for profit, thereby violating the copying and screening rights of the sunsung company。
The first to third seasons of china's good song, the first and second seasons of china's new song, and the second season of china's good voice 2018 are well-known music programmes, which are clearly marked on their overpacks as the author of the authorship of sunsung. In addition, as a co-author of the first and second seasons of china's new song, and of china's good voice 2018, zhejiang radio and television group (zhejiang radio and television group) authorized sansung to take legal action in its own right against violations. Therefore, in the absence of evidence, it is possible to conclude that shinsung has legal copyright over the music and television in question and that the case can be brought against them。
In the end, the court, taking into account the scale of ktv's business, the manner in which the violation was committed, the duration of the violation, the extent of the subjective fault and the visibility of the music and television involved, the reasonable costs incurred by sunsung to stop the infringement and the volume of the action brought, decided that a ktv would, at its discretion, compensate sunsung for the economic loss (including the reasonable costs of stopping the violation) of 600 yuan。
Case 5
Trailers and cartoons are involved in copyright disputes, and merchants should be vigilant in their production. Rights
In 2018, li, a statutory representative of a thai company in dong chong city, registered the art of " fruit fan-peach " as a author. The work is a slipper with a symmetrical pair of five peaches and english, with one peach in the middle being the normal pink body, the green leaf, and the side of the peach surrounding the white english letter; the remaining four peaches and the english letter only show part。
In december 2020, the notary arrived at a shopping mall in east-shang city, nakayama city, to buy two pairs of slippers with peach patterns, with the label “a profit company in guangzhou”. According to one thai company, these shoes are similar to their own products, and they were prosecuted by one of the supermarkets and one of guangzhou's profit companies。
Whether the slippers in question are protected as works of art depends on the unique personality and creativity embodied in the intellectual work of authors in aesthetics. In the court's view, neither the individual elements of the slipper pattern nor the overall picture reflect the author's distinct aesthetic views, the intellectual work results of a clearly original nature, the degree of originality required by the works of art protected by copyright law, so that they cannot be protected as works of art. The claim by a thai company in dong chong city that a work is protected by copyright law, and by a company in jai super and guangzhou that they constitute a violation of their copyright rights and that they stop the violation and compensate for the damage, is not well founded and is not supported by the court。
The judge recalled that, with the strengthening of the protection of intellectual property rights in the country, many of the images on the internet are original works of art by the right-holders concerned and are protected by copyright law. Many trademarks are registered in a variety of categories, such as clothing, stationery, books, etc., which can easily be trampled on “mined areas” of invasion rights if insufficient attention is paid by producers and sellers。
Case 6
Unauthorized printing of a dalian trademark in his home's products was sentenced to $200,000
From the beginning of 2014, during the operation of a company, the trademark was printed on a cable made at home without authorization from the owner of the registered trademark “rifeng”, guangdong ige cable co. Ltd。
After examination, zhou zhou, as an operator engaged in cable production and sales for many years, is clearly aware of the rules governing the use of trademarks, their market value and their significance and should be aware of the illegality of counterfeit trademarks. One of the companies in which he operated also had their own trademarks, which were used without writing or formal authorization. Zhou gang stone argued that its charterer, printing wheel and line-laying racks, which printed the rifing trademark, were supplied by lee aijiang, the operating manager of iifeng corporation, and could be considered as authorizing the german company to print the trademark. However, zhou chongqin is aware that li chiang is only the business manager of ifung and does not have the authority to license trademarks on behalf of ifung; li chiang also expressly denies, in his numerous notes in this case, that the printing of the core parts of the trademarks is carried out by his lending to the german company. Thus, in the event that the printing wheel in question could not be deemed to have been supplied by lee aijiang, it cannot be concluded that the printing of the trademark “rifeng” by the german company was authorized by ilfung. The act of zhou zhou has constituted the offence of false registration of trademarks and has been sentenced to one year and five months imprisonment and a fine of $200,000。
Registered trademarks are not only the intangible assets of an enterprise, but also the basis on which consumers choose their products or services. The false registration of trademarks carried out by the defendant, zhou kong, not only infringes the rights of the trademark holder, iifeng, but may also be detrimental to consumers, disrupting market order and causing serious social harm. Such intellectual property offences should therefore be severely punished, the legitimate interests of enterprises and consumers protected and the business environment optimized。
In 2018-2021, the nakayama court concluded a total of 15809 intellectual property cases. Subsequently, city-wide courts will continue to innovate the judicial protection mechanisms for intellectual property, actively create a stable, fair, transparent and predictable business environment for the rule of law, promote innovative development in nakayama, upgrade industry and enhance the capacity for autonomous innovation to provide stronger judicial service guarantees。
I'm a journalist for the southern daily news
Zhu jing yiu
Yee-young
[source] southern media group southern + client
