On February 16, 2023, the Beijing IP Court announced a ruling in Mattel’s favor against a Chinese applicant attempting to register a trademark for 芭比堂 (Barbie Tang) in class 44 for goods and services including animal breeding, artificial insemination (for animals), test tube fertilization (for animals), pet bathing and veterinary assistance. Yunchong (Beijing) Animal Medical Technology Co., Ltd. (云宠（北京）动物医疗科技有限公司) operates a chain of animal hospitals operating under the name of 芭比堂动物医院 (Barbietang Animal Hospital) and applied for a trademark for …
Category: Case
China’s Supreme People’s Court: Patentee Entitled to Punitive Damages for Breach of Settlement Agreement
In a decision highlighted by China’s Supreme People’s Court (SPC) on February 7, 2023, the SPC ruled that a plaintiff patentee was entitled to punitive damages when the defendant sold the infringing product after concluding a settlement agreement in an earlier case to stop infringing. Jin XX sued Baijia Hardware, Electrical, Labor Insurance and Building Materials Business Department and Zhengzhou Baifa Trading Co., Ltd. for invention patent infringement of CN1131364 for a “Reverse Ground Planer.” On appeal to the SPC, …
Decathlon Wins Almost 3 Million RMB in Chinese Trade Dress Dispute for Store Design
As reported by 京法网事 , the Shijingshan People’s Court ruled in favor of Decathlon (Shanghai) Sports Goods Co., Ltd. in a trade dress dispute with a competing unnamed outdoor sports store involving store layout, decoration, logos, props, and other decorative elements. Decathlon was awarded 2.94 million RMB in damages and 350 thousand RMB for expenses, an injunction to eliminate the impact of the unfair competition, and require the defendant to publish a statement in the China Intellectual Property News for …
China’s Supreme People’s Court Releases Second Batch of Typical Civil Code Cases Including Piercing the Corporate Veil in a Trademark/Unfair Competition Case
On January 12, 2023, China’s Supreme People’s Court released the Typical Cases of People’s Courts Implementing the Civil Code (Second Batch) (人民法院贯彻实施民法典典型案例（第二批)). The Second Batch comprises 16 cases including one intellectual property case: Wenjian Co., Ltd. v. Suzhou Wenjian Company, a packaging company and Hua, personally (dispute over trademark infringement and unfair competition). In this case, the Court “pierced the corporate veil” in effect by holding Hua jointly and severally liable with the companies as he was the controlling shareholder …