Shanghai may be becoming the venue of choice for criminal prosecution of intellectual property infringement. On July 23, 2020, the Shanghai Public Security Bureau announced the arrest of several individuals affiliated with the Wei Jiang Company (“威将”) for criminal copyright infringement of Hasbro’s Transformers toys. The alleged sales volume of infringing goods was over 100 million RMB (~$14 million USD) and more than 30,000 imitation products and parts were seized. This follows the recent announcement of the conviction of Dyson trademark …
China’s Black People’s Toothpaste (Darlie) to be Renamed HYMULA?
In response to Black Lives Matters, Colgate Palmolive announced in June 2020 the rebranding of its controversial Chinese toothpaste 黑人牙膏 (Black People’s Toothpaste), also known as Darlie (previously Darkie) in English. Darlie is one of the top-selling toothpaste brands in China with a 17% market share. Perhaps recognizing the irreparability of the brand, it appears that Colgate, and its affiliate 好维股份有限公司 (Hawley and Hazel (BVI) Co. Ltd.), may be going for a complete rebrand (instead of a tweaking) based on …
Shanghai Zhizhen Intelligent Network Technology Co., Ltd. Sues Apple for $1.4 Billion USD After Supreme People’s Court Affirms Validity of Patent
Shanghai Zhizhen Intelligent Network Technology Co., Ltd. (上海智臻智能网络科技公司 also known as Xiaoi Robot), according to the Shanghai Security News, sued Apple for 10 billion RMB (~$1.4 billion USD) on August 3, 2020 at the Shanghai High People’s Court. The lawsuit for patent infringement claims Apple infringed Chinese patent no. ZL200410053749.9, which China’s Supreme People’s Court affirmed as valid in June, 2020.
China’s Patent Office Invalidates Chinese Shoe Design Patent Using the ASICS Stripes Trademark
As first reported by 汇知杰, the Reexamination and Invalidation Department of the China National Intellectual Property Office (PRB) has invalidated a Chinese design patent for an athletic shoe that uses ASICS Corporation’s trademarked stripes logo. Competitor Qiaodan Sports Co. Ltd. (notorious for using Michael Jordan’s Chinese name as their company name and in trademarks, etc.) filed design patent application 201430367626.7 on September 29, 2014, which was granted on April 8, 2015. ASICS filed a petition to invalidate the patent on …