On February 8, 2021, China’s Supreme People’s Procuratorate issued the 26th batch of guiding cases covering intellectual property. This batch covers 5 cases including criminal trademark, copyright and trade secret law. Foreign victims included Starbucks, Cisco, and HP in 2 of the 5 cases. A brief summary of the cases follow. The full text is available here (in Chinese only).
Category: Case
Casio Awarded 8.8 Million RMB in Chinese Design Patent Infringement Case for Watches
Per a Court announcement, on January 28, 2021 the Shanghai Intellectual Property Court ruled in favor of the plaintiff Casio Computer Co., Ltd. against the defendants Tornado Company (旋风公司), Smael Company (斯麦尔公司), Weishi Company (威时公司), and Huaxin Products Factory (华鑫制品厂) in a design patent infringement case. The Court awarded 8.8 Million RMB ($1.369 million USD) in damages and expenses as well as an injunction, as is common in China.
Shell Awarded 5.5 Million RMB in Chinese Trademark Infringement Case
On January 21, 2021, the Beijing Intellectual Property Court announced the awarding of 5.5 Million RMB (~$851 thousand USD) in damages and expenses to Shell International and Shell China for trademark infringement regarding automobile lubricants. The Court also awarded an injunction against the 5 defendants: corporations North Shell Company (北壳公司), Jianchi Company (剑驰公司) , Annaichi Company (安耐驰公司), and persons Wang and Song.
Accusation of Chinese Patent Infringement Leads to Slander Lawsuit Victory
In what can only be considered a really bad business decision, before the filing of a patent infringement lawsuit, Zhejiang KoBach Kitchenware Co., Ltd. (跳转至浙江巴赫厨具有限公司) accused Zhejiang Supor Co., Ltd. (浙江苏泊尔股份有限公司) of patent infringement in a full page advertisement in the Yangcheng Evening News on October 21, 2019. In response, on November 21, 2019, Supor filed a lawsuit accusing KoBach of commercial slander. On January 5, 2021, the Hangzhou Intermediate Court released a decision (dated December 14, 2020) ruling in …