The Tongguan Meat Sandwich Steamed Bun Association apologized, but Ms. Li of Ningling County, a Shangqiu County in Henan Province, who sold meat sandwich buns, did not know whether she could recover the nearly 8,000 yuan that had been awarded compensation.
On the evening of November 26, the Tongguan Meat Sandwich Steamed Bread Association issued a letter of apology for the protection of the Tongguan Meat Sandwich Steamed Bun trademark. In the apology letter, the association promised to "immediately stop the rights protection behavior of the national Tongguan meat sandwich steamed bun operators" and "we will actively and properly handle the relevant matters related to the early protection of rights".
Just in the early morning of November 26, the State Intellectual Property Office answered reporters' questions on the trademark disputes over "Xiaoyao Town" and "Tongguan Meat Sandwich Bun" in response to this trademark dispute that spread across the country. The State Intellectual Property Office pointed out that, legally speaking, "Runaway Town" is an ordinary trademark, and its registrant cannot collect the so-called "membership fee" accordingly. "Tongguan Meat Sandwich Bun" is a geographical indication registered as a collective trademark, and its registrant has no right to license the use of the geographical indication collective trademark to merchants outside the specific area of Tongguan and collect a franchise fee. At the same time, it has no right to prohibit merchants in a specific area of Tongguan from properly using the geographical names in the collective trademarks of geographical indications.
However, Ms. Li, who was sued by the Tongguan Meat Sandwich Steamed Bun Association, told the Beijing News Shell Financial Reporter that she had previously transferred nearly 8,000 yuan to the lawyer entrusted by the Tongguan Meat Sandwich Bun Association. After seeing the association apologize on the 26th, she sent the apology letter to the lawyer entrusted by the association to sue, and the lawyer said that the money had been transferred to the association, please contact the association yourself.
The reporter contacted the Tongguan Meat Sandwich Steamed Bun Association in this regard, called the contact numbers left on multiple official websites, and could not be connected until the deadline.
So, how can a merchant who has already paid compensation get it back? How can a merchant who has been awarded compensation in the first instance apply for a change of judgment? What are the claims of the merchant being sued?
After small merchants are sentenced to pay: lawyers say they "don't remember anything"
On September 2, 2021, Ms. Li of Li's Laotongguan Meat Sandwich Steamed Bun Shop in Ningling County, Shangqiu City, Henan Province, received a summons from the Intermediate People's Court of Shangqiu City, Henan Province, saying that her shop name was suspected of infringing the trademark rights of shaanxi Tongguan Meat Sandwich Steamed Bun Association.
Ms. Li told the Beijing News Shell financial reporter that her family did not understand the law, so when she received the summons, she "panicked at once." Later, she went to discuss with Her peer Ms. Shen, who was also in the meat sandwich steamed bun business, and found that Ms. Shen had also received the same summons.
Two women in small business asked someone to consult how to respond to the lawsuit, and when they heard that a lawyer had to pay a high legal fee, they unanimously decided not to hire a lawyer and go straight to trial.
At the trial on September 17, Ms. Li and Ms. Shen found that in addition to them, there were other merchants who were also sued. The Shangqiu Intermediate People's Court conducted a "simultaneous hearing and separate trial" of these cases.
Ms. Li told reporters that during the trial, Li Shen and The two communicated with the plaintiff, Lawyer Xing, who was entrusted to sue by the Tongguan Meat Sandwich Association, and the other party agreed to negotiate a settlement. However, after the trial, the two said they had not received a notice from Lawyer Xing.
On October 2, Li Shen and Li Shen suddenly received the court's civil judgment. The judgment shows that Ms. Li and Ms. Shen lost the case, and the store should compensate the Shaanxi Tongguan Meat Sandwich Steamed Bread Association for infringement fees and bear the litigation costs of the other party. In the face of the first-instance judgment, both Li Shen said they wanted to appeal.
Verdict received by Ms. Lee. Courtesy of respondents
After filing their appeal applications, Ms. Shen and Ms. Li received a court text message with a link attached. Ms. Shen told reporters that her mobile phone could not open the link in the text message. When they received another call from the court, the two were informed that they had missed the payment date and the appeal was invalid.
Ms. Li told reporters that after the appeal lapsed, lawyer Xing, who was commissioned by the Shaanxi Tongguan Meat Sandwich Steamed Bun Association, repeatedly called herself to collect money, saying that if Ms. Li did not perform the court's judgment again, it would be enforced, and high interest would be added to the compensation.
After Ms. Xing collected money several times, Ms. Li chose to transfer the money to the other party, including the other party's litigation fees, totaling 7775 yuan.
Ms. Shen told reporters that she did not pay the money because her mother fell and was hospitalized urgently. At present, Ms. Shen's shop has been closed and transferred.
In this regard, the reporter dialed the telephone number of lawyer Xing entrusted by the Shaanxi Tongguan Meat Sandwich Steamed Bread Association, and Lawyer Xing said that he did not remember how many lawsuits he had represented the Tongguan Meat Sandwich Steamed Bread Association, and could not remember whether the association contacted him later, "I don't remember anything."
The reporter also called The Henan Yuyin Law Firm, where Lawyer Xing is located, and the head of the firm said that "he didn't know anything", so that the reporter could contact the Tongguan Meat Sandwich Steamed Bun Association directly and hang up the phone.
On the afternoon of November 26, the reporter repeatedly called the official website of the LaoTongguan Snack Association (the predecessor of the Tongguan Meat Sandwich Steamed Bun Association) and left a number of phones, but they could not be connected until the evening.
Some merchants have proposed that the cost of responding to the loss should be resolved
On the morning of November 26, the State Intellectual Property Office responded that the registrant of "Tongguan Meat Sandwich Bun" did not have the right to license the use of the collective trademark of the geographical indication and collect the franchise fee from merchants outside the specific area of Tongguan. After learning this news, Ms. Li and Ms. Shen were still worried while they were happy.
On the evening of November 26, the Tongguan Meat Sandwich Steamed Bun Association issued an apology statement. The two merchants quickly sent an apology statement from the Tongguan Meat Sandwich Steamed Bun Association to Lawyer Xing. On the evening of the 26th, under Ms. Li's continuous questioning, Lawyer Xing responded that the compensation involved in this case had been handed over to the association, and her agency work had ended, and as for whether to refund the fee, Ms. Li needed to contact the association on her own.
Ms. Shen told reporters that just the day before the news report, Lawyer Xing was still collecting money through WeChat, asking Ms. Shen to implement the court judgment and pay the compensation.
In the "National Laotongguan Unity Group" that Ms. Li showed reporters, many group members also have the same concerns as the two.
In addition, some people in the group summarized the appeals of the accused merchants: First, they required the complete withdrawal of the lawsuits of the merchants who have been sued; Second, it is necessary to resolve the losses and expenses incurred by the merchants who have been awarded compensation, the merchants who have settled the compensation, and all the merchants who have responded to the lawsuit; third, the association is required to give up the exclusive right to use the Chinese character "Tongguan Meat Sandwich Bun" and only retain the exclusive right to use the pattern trademark, such as the similar geographical indication trademark Shaxian snack and Lanzhou beef ramen; fourth, it is hoped that the government and relevant departments will investigate the relationship between the association and the catering. Inform the merchants whether the president Wang Huafeng, in the name of the association, is suspected of illegally amassing money for his two catering companies.
Regarding the appeal of the judgmentd merchant, Zhang Liang, a lawyer at Beijing Yingke Law Firm, believes that the merchant is very likely to win the lawsuit, and there have been cases of the merchant winning the lawsuit in the second instance.
Lawyer Zhang said that within 6 months from the effective date of the first-instance judgment, the merchant can apply for a retrial; in the case of a clear misjudgment in the first-instance judgment, the merchant can also communicate with the trial judge or the president of the court and request the court of first instance to initiate the retrial procedure to correct the error.
In view of the basic characterization of the matter by the official, and the Tongguan Meat Sandwich Bun Association also apologized for this, Lawyer Zhang has the following four suggestions: First, the court should take the initiative to start the retrial procedure, correct the mistakes on its own, and return the merchant's innocence; second, for the cases that are being litigated, the association should immediately withdraw the lawsuit; in cases that have received compensation, the association should take the initiative to contact the merchant and return the compensation paid as soon as possible; third, because in the process of safeguarding the rights, only the lawyer communicates with the merchant, and the lawyer is the most suitable person to deal with the aftermath. Lawyers have certain responsibilities to assist merchants and associations to make refunds and open a convenient door for merchants to refund; fourth, merchants can take the initiative to contact the association's lawyers and association refunds and apply to the court for retrial according to their own circumstances to correct the wrong judgment.
The president of the Tongguan Meat Sandwich Association has more than 300 chain stores
More than 212 small merchants across the country have been sued by the Shaanxi Tongguan Meat Sandwich Steamed Bun Association. In some reports, the Shaanxi Tongguan Meat Sandwich Steamed Bun Association has demanded that small merchants compensate tens of thousands of yuan in infringement fees, and if they want to continue to use the "Tongguan Meat Sandwich Bun" sign, they need to pay a franchise fee of about 100,000 yuan, as well as an annual fee of thousands of yuan per year.
According to the franchise details of the official WeChat public account of the "Tongguan Meat Sandwich Steamed Bun Association", the franchise fee is divided into three grades - 99,800 flagship stores, 59,800 standard stores, and 39,800 entrepreneurial stores. In addition, according to the classification of flagship stores, standard stores, and start-up stores, different prices of intention payments, deposits, management fees, and snack association membership fees will be charged. Taking the flagship store as an example, the total amount of intention, security deposit and franchise fee is about 139,800 yuan, in addition to paying 800 yuan / month management fee and 200 yuan snack association membership fee.
It is reported that the trademark "Tongguan Meat Sandwich Bun" was approved as a registered trademark on December 14, 2015, and on December 25, the Lao Tong Guan Snack Association (the predecessor of the Tong guan Meat Sandwich Bun Association) authorized Xi'an Wansheng Catering Management Co., Ltd. and Tongguan County Shengtong Catering Management Co., Ltd. to use "Tongguan Meat Sandwich Bun", and the two companies have the right to use the trademark, the right to operate and the right to brand publicity and promotion of the trademark, and the authorization period is from December 25, 2015 to December 13, 2025.
According to the enterprise investigation, the Tongguan Meat Sandwich Steamed Bun Association was registered in June 2016, the registered capital is only 50,000 yuan, the legal representative is Wang Huafeng, the president of the association, and the main business includes the training, promotion and publicity of The Tongguan Meat Sandwich Bun Association. The major shareholder of the above-mentioned Xi'an Wansheng Catering Management Co., Ltd. is Wang Huafeng, whose shareholding ratio is 55%. The actual controller of Tongguan County Shengtong Catering Management Co., Ltd. is also Wang Huafeng, and the final beneficiary shares are 60%.
An article on the official website of the Tongguan County People's Government last year titled "Tongguan Meat Sandwich Steamed Bun and the Thousand-Mile "Marriage" of Budapest, Hungary" revealed the identity of Wang Huafeng, the president of the association. The article said that Wang Huafeng operates Shengtong Catering Management Co., Ltd., which was established in 2012 with total assets of more than 20 million yuan, and currently the company has more than 300 Tongguan meat sandwich steamed bun brand chain stores in China, more than 60 city and county distribution network stores, with an annual turnover of more than 40 million yuan, which is one of the most influential local snack enterprises in Shaanxi.
Beijing News shell financial reporter Li Menghan Editor Xu Chao Proofreader Lu Qian