Trademark ActTo protect the legitimate rights and interests of registered trademark owners according to law, but to maliciously register trademarks and seek improper benefits by sending infringement warning letters, filing infringement complaints to industrial and commercial departments, violates the principle of good faith and constitutes unfair competition. Recently, the Beijing Intellectual Property Court concluded a dispute over unfair competition involving the malicious registration of the "Gubei Water Town" trademark and abuse of trademark rights.
Gubei Water Town, located in Simatai Village, Gubeikou Town, Miyun District, Beijing, backed by the Simatai Great Wall, with Yuanyang Lake reservoir, is a rare Jiangnan town in the suburbs of Beijing. Gubei Water Town with a total area of 9 square kilometers, set sightseeing, leisure, business exhibition, creative culture and other tourism formats as one, the gentle south and the north of the bold are integrated in this town. On November 18, 2020, Gubei Water Town was named the first Beijing network celebrity cultural landscape punch card by Beijing Municipal Culture and Tourism Bureau.
Brief of the case
Beijing Gubei Water Town Tourism Co., LTD. (hereinafter referred to as Gubei Water Town Company) was registered and established in Miyun District, Beijing on July 16, 2010, specially for the operation of Gubei Water Town scenic spot. From 2014 to 2016, the scenic spot received millions of tourists every year, with a total revenue of hundreds of millions of yuan.
Beijing Xiaohao Technology Co., LTD. (hereinafter referred to as Xiaohao Company) was registered in Miyun District, Beijing on February 12, 2014, and its business scope at the time of establishment included trademark transfer and agency services, etc., and later changed the registration to remove this service.
Gubei Water Town Company believes that Xiaohao Company, knowing the popularity of Gubei Water Town Company's "Gubei Water Town" enterprise name and unregistered trademark, still applies for the registration of No. 14073131 and No. 14073132 "Gubei Water Town" trademark (referred to as the involved trademark) on commodities such as Class 33 alcohol and Class 25 clothing. And sent infringement warning letters to Gubei Water Town company, filed trademark infringement complaints, and asked Gubei Water Town company to stop using the "Gubei Water Town" trademark on the packaging of alcohol products; The behavior of Xiaohao company violated the legitimate rights and interests of Gubei Water Town company, resulting in Gubei Water Town company's legitimate application for registration of the trademark "Gubei Water Town" was hindered, disrupted the order of trademark registration, also violated the principle of honesty and credit, and constituted unfair competition, so the lawsuit was brought to court. Request the court to order Xiaohao Company to compensate its economic losses and reasonable expenses totaling 500,000 yuan, and publish a statement to eliminate the impact.
No. 14073131 "Gubei Water Town" trademark
No. 14073132 "Gubei Water Town" trademark
The court of first instance held that the small trench company's application for the registration of the trademark of "Gubei Water Town" involved, and the behavior of sending infringement warning letters and filing industrial and commercial complaints violated the legitimate rights and interests of Gubei Water Town Company, violated the principle of honesty and credit, and constituted unfair competition. Xiaohao company refused to accept, appeal to the Beijing intellectual property court.
In the second instance, Xiaohao Company argued that its application for registration of two "Gubei Water Town" trademarks did not have bad intentions, and its legitimate rights protection behavior did not constitute unfair competition; Moreover, Xiaohao Company did not actually use the two "Gubei Water Town" trademarks, and its behavior involved in the case will not cause substantial economic losses to Gubei Water Town company. Therefore, the court is requested to revoke the first instance judgment and change the judgment to reject all the claims of the first instance of the Gubei water town company.
Judge's interpretation
Xiaohao Company obtained the registration of the trademark involved in the case when it knew that its application for registration of the trademark involved in the case of "Gubei Water Town" was improper. Xiaohao Company also knew that there were major defects in the right basis of the trademark involved in the case that it was approved to register when it sent the infringement warning letter and filed industrial and commercial complaints. However, it still exercised the exclusive right of the trademark involved in the case for the main purpose of seizing improper commercial interests and damaging the legitimate rights and interests of others. The behavior of Xiaohao company seriously violates the principle of good faith and credit, which constitutes the abuse of trademark rights and unfair competition. The necessary expenses incurred by Gubei Water Town Company to safeguard its legitimate rights and interests and cope with Xiaohao Company's abuse of trademark rights belong to the direct economic losses caused by the aforesaid unfair competition acts, and Xiaohao Company shall bear the liability for compensation according to law.
In summary, the Beijing Intellectual Property Court based on 1993 Law of the People's Republic of China against Unfair Competition Article 2 and Article 20, Paragraph 1 of Article 177 of the Civil Procedure Law of the People's Republic of China, the appeal is rejected and the original judgment is upheld, that is, Xiaohao Company is ordered to compensate Gubei Water Town Company for economic losses of 280,000 yuan and reasonable expenses of 35,000 yuan, and to publish a statement on the unfair competition act in China Intellectual Property News. Eliminate the impact.
Judge's note
The judgment of this case reflects the judgment idea that "malicious registration and abuse of trademark rights constitute unfair competition". It is found that there are major rights defects in the basis of the rights of the registered trademark obtained by the trademark registrant, and it abuses the trademark right for the main purpose of damaging the national interests, social public interests, and the legitimate rights and interests of others after obtaining the registered trademark, even if it has obtained the exclusive right to use the registered trademark, it cannot change the wrongfulness of the nature of its behavior. In this case, the registered trademark held by the trademark registrant is no longer the trademark intended to protect by the trademark law, but becomes the enclosure symbol that runs counter to the trademark protected by the trademark law. The various forms of trademark registrants exercising their "alienated" right to exclusive use of registered trademarks deviate from the legislative goal and institutional purpose of the trademark Law, seriously violate the principle of good faith, disrupt the order of trademark registration and protection, damage the social economy and competition order, and should be firmly regulated according to law. (Source: Beijing Law News)
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