Jimu News reporter Lee Hyun-shing
The store's name, which has been used for decades, has been charged with "trademark infringement." Since late September 2021, six restaurants in Kunming, Yunnan Province, have successively received summonses from the court because their store names contain the word "glasses", and Bao Moumou, the trademark owner who registered the trademark with "glasses", sued for 50,000 yuan in compensation for each store.
Civil complaints provided by interviewees
On November 27, a reporter from Jimu News visited the site and saw that the signs of the shops that were sued had the word "glasses" on them and were marked as old stores for more than ten or twenty years. The origin of these shop names is because the boss wears glasses. These bosses all believe that Bao Moumou's move is an act of touching porcelain, and they will actively respond to the lawsuit to protect their rights.
For such trademark rights protection, some intellectual property experts have said that the law supports the legitimate protection of intellectual property rights holders, but if litigation is used as a means and the goal is to obtain improper benefits, there is a suspicion of abuse of rights.
Court summons (provided by the interviewee)
The name of the restaurant contained the word "glasses" and was accused of infringement
In recent days, trademark disputes such as "Tongguan Meat Sandwich Bun", "Xiaoyao Town Hu Spicy Soup" and "Korla Fragrant Pear" have aroused continuous heated discussion in public opinion. Recently, six restaurants in Kunming, Yunnan Province, have also been involved in similar disputes over trademark issues.
The China Trademark Network shows the registered trademark of "Bao X"
On November 27, a reporter from Jimu News learned that six restaurants in Kunming began to receive summonses from the court in late September, because their store names contained the word "glasses" and were sued by Bao Moumou, the trademark owner of the registered trademark of "glasses".
The trademark registered by the owner of the "glasses stick" himself
According to the civil complaint provided by Mr. Yang, the owner of the defendant "Glasses Dumplings", the plaintiff Bao X requested the court to order the defendant to stop using the "Glasses" trademark logo and the door, and prohibit the use of the above logos in the provision of services or external publicity. At the same time, the defendant was ordered to compensate the plaintiff for economic losses of 50,000 yuan, and the defendant had to bear all the litigation costs.
Details of the "Glasses" trademark (Source: Screenshot of China Trademark Network)
The bosses of the lawsuits such as "Cucumber Camp Glasses Barbecue" and "Fat Glasses Seafood Barbecue" also told jimu news reporters that the summonses and indictments they received were basically the same, but the names of the stores were different, and each store was required to compensate 50,000 yuan. Mr. Zhang, the owner of cucumber camp glasses barbecue shop, also said that because he has a total of three stores, the name of the store contains the word "glasses", this time he received three indictments, a total of 150,000 yuan in compensation.
Fat glasses grill shop
"Our family started out selling barbecue on the street, and the owner of the stall next door wore glasses like me, because I was fatter and he was thinner, so customers who came to dinner used to call me 'fat glasses', and slowly, they called this nickname the name of the store." Mr. Tang, the owner of the Fat Glasses Seafood Grill, described the origin of the name to reporters.
Cucumber Camp Glasses Grill Shop
Many stores have used this name for more than twenty years
Jimu News reporter interviewed a number of store owners learned that the reason why they named their stores with the word "glasses" is because of their physical characteristics, they all wear glasses. In addition, most of these stores have been open for more than 20 years, and the longest", the "Glasses Dumpling" store, has been open since the 1990s and has not changed its name during this period. The operators of glasses soup, cucumber camp glasses barbecue, fat glasses seafood barbecue have also registered relevant trademarks.
On the afternoon of the 27th, jimu news reporters used the name of plaintiff Bao Moumou to inquire on the China Trademark Network and found that he had continuously registered trademarks related to "glasses" since 1998, but at present, some of his trademarks are in the state of "the application is rejected, inadmissible, etc., and the trademark has become invalid".
The trademark "glasses" was applied for by Mr. Bao on September 29, 1998, and was approved for registration by the State Trademark Office on May 7, 2000, and the approved use items include restaurants and restaurants, and its current status is "cancellation/invalidation declaration application under review". The reporter found in the trademark network that the trademark details page is marked with a red letter prompt of "for reference only, not legal effect".
In this regard, a lawyer explained to Jimu News that if the trademark is displayed as "cancellation/invalidation application under review", it means that someone is filing an opposition and applying for cancellation of the trademark, but the trademark is still valid. As for the china trademark network prompt "for reference only, not legal effect", this is because the trademark changes frequently, some data updates are not timely, and the labeling prompt is to avoid risks.
According to local media reports in Yunnan, the name of the plaintiff, Bao X, was entered into the search engine, and the webpage showed dozens of related lawsuits, involving Sichuan, Fujian, Guangxi, Shaanxi, Hunan and other places. However, in these cases, some courts rejected the plaintiff's claim, and some sentenced the defendant to compensate for economic losses ranging from 4,000 to 6,000 yuan.
For the trademark dispute they faced this time, the above-mentioned Kunming restaurant owners who were sued all believed that Bao Moumou belonged to the "porcelain touching behavior", and they said that they would actively respond to the lawsuit and protect their rights and interests through legal channels.
Glasses shop (Photo courtesy of interviewee)
Lawyer: The attributes of "glasses" as a trademark are not strong
It is understood that the Kunming "glasses" trademark dispute case has been heard on November 19, but the trial results have not yet been announced.
Lawyer Chai Xin of Beijing Dacheng (Wuhan) Law Firm told Jimu News that if a merchant maliciously uses a trademark registered by Mr. Bao, and the trademark pattern and glyph are the same or highly similar to their registered trademark, it is suspected of constituting trademark infringement. However, if other merchants do not use it in their registered category, it does not constitute infringement, or although it is also used in its registered category, but it does not highlight or emphasize the use, it is only a word in the name of the store, such as "cucumber camp glasses barbecue", which does not constitute infringement. Because the store did not highlight the word glasses, the glasses at this time are just an everyday term, and its attributes as a trademark are not strong, and the "cucumber camp glasses barbecue" and the glasses trademark registered by Bao Moumou are also quite different, which will not lead to confusion, so it does not constitute infringement.
In Chai Xin's view, if a merchant uses a trademark that is the same as the glasses trademark registered by Mr. Bao, and it is also in the same category, if it is used earlier than the time of the plaintiff's registration, it does not constitute infringement.
Chen Liang, a lawyer at Hubei Haolu Law Firm, also told Jimu News that after the trademark owner registers and obtains the trademark, he enjoys the relevant intellectual property rights, which can exclude others from using it free of charge in a certain category of goods, and requires payment of infringement fees. However, for businesses that have obtained a registered trademark that contains the word "glasses", it should not be infringing. The defendant merchant can refute this by proving that it actually used the word "glasses", obtaining a registered trademark containing the word "glasses", and applying for a trademark opposition.
For such trademark rights protection, Shan Xiaoguang, dean of the International Intellectual Property School of Tongji University, pointed out in an interview with the media that the intellectual property system should balance the interests of intellectual property rights holders, bona fide users and the public, although China continues to improve the level of intellectual property protection and adopts a "strong protection" protection attitude, it does not mean that rights can be abused. For trademarks containing geographical indications or specific meanings, their rights protection should be strictly in accordance with the provisions of the law, and they cannot "expand their rights" or engage in "universal casting of nets" without authorization, otherwise it will adversely affect the normal market economic order. The law supports intellectual property rights holders to properly safeguard their rights, but if litigation is used as a means and the goal is to obtain improper benefits, there is a suspicion of abuse of rights, which is contrary to the path direction of building an intellectual property power.
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