Blue Hole New Consumption Report, February 18 news, Blue Hole learned that the global mobile phone luxury brand VERTU in China's operating company was sued by a Shenzhen e-cigarette company for infringement of utility model patent rights a case has been accepted by the court.
According to Baidu Encyclopedia, luxury mobile phone company VETU was born in October 1998 as a way to run a high-end brand, designed by world-famous mobile phone designer Frank Nuovo.
In 2012, Nokia sold a 90% stake in the VETU brand to Swedish investment firm EQT. The brand's models are absolutely kingly in appearance, material and function, with an average price of more than 100,000 yuan per model. VERTU, a word that originated in Latin, originally meant high quality and uniqueness.
Look at the ordinary price, it is not affordable for ordinary people.
Such a high-end luxury brand will copy the products of shenzhen's unknown e-cigarette company? Are you kidding?
E-cigarettes have been hot in the past two years, and VERTU is not lonely and ready to make a product, so later there is a VERTU electronic cigarette on the market.
People familiar with the e-cigarette industry, the mold of the above product should not be unfamiliar, Blue Hole has reported, but also opened the box.
At that time, this mobile phone was also co-branded with Supreme, and it appeared on the market as a supreme co-branded electronic cigarette, which was launched by Shenzhen Chenji Company.
Interested students can go to see, open the box assessment: there is a small motor in the cigarette pole! Ji Ke launched an automatic lifting electronic cigarette
The biggest highlight of this product is the built-in lifting small motor, according to the middle square, the smoke bomb can be freely lifted and lowered, and the mainstream bullet replacement products on the market have obvious design differences, but later this product for various reasons, including the expiration of the joint name, and Chenji company business focus is not in the aspect of electronic cigarettes, it has temporarily become a legend in the industry.
Until later, everyone suddenly saw THEVERTU electronic cigarette, feeling that this design and appearance are a bit familiar.
Take a closer look at the comparison chart, is there a difference between the two products?
The brand is different, but the appearance, motor buttons, lifting and lowering aspects are almost exactly the same as Chenji's products. Did Chenji license this product to VERTU for co-branding?
Blue Hole asked the relevant people, the other side said that VERTU did not obtain product authorization, is privately found Chenji's foundry for imitation, is an infringement of intellectual property rights, has been filed for prosecution, and has been accepted by the court.
Blue Hole did see on the court's notice of acceptance that three of VERTU's domestic companies were listed as defendants, and the case was filed on November 12 last year for infringement of the use of new patent rights.
The plaintiffs said that the internal structure patent and design of THE VERTU electronic cigarette were all suspected of infringement.
As for why almost identical products appeared, the plaintiff believes that the e-cigarette foundry YC, which was commissioned at that time, violated confidentiality regulations, purchased materials from various suppliers, assembled them, and sold them to VERTU-related companies.
The plaintiff revealed that the motor foundry of this mobile phone is a listed company in Shenzhen with the abbreviation of ZW, and their product drawings and molds were leaked to the infringer, so the exact same appearance product appeared.
Blue Hole saw in the foundry contract between the plaintiff and ZW that ZW has a strict obligation of confidentiality for the technical drawings, molds, and related information of this electronic cigarette, and cannot be copied or provided to any third party unless authorized by the plaintiff.
The plaintiff claimed that it was precisely because the e-cigarette foundry and the motor foundry ZW leaked customer information to a third party that relevant infringing products appeared on the market, and both ZW and YC had serious breaches of contract and dishonesty.
The case is currently pending.
Blue Hole Key: Two major points of interest are worth paying attention to
1, luxury mobile phone VETU if it is really identified as plagiarism imitation infringement, its high-end luxury brand positioning will have a stain impact, you know, the consumption of such a high price of products, the most concerned about reputation, if indeed judged to be infringing, this will have an impact on the brand of VETU.
2, how the mold, drawings and other information of this product is leaked, but also tests the integrity of the foundry and supply chain. If it is true that ZW and YC leaked confidential customer information in violation of regulations, as Chenji said, it will probably have an impact on the future solicitation of customers by the above two companies. Confidentiality for customers should be the most important basic principle for the supply chain.
Blue Hole will continue to monitor the case.
Special activities: The third anniversary of the Blue Hole will launch a welfare delivery activity, and next Monday at 2 o'clock, the live broadcast will begin, scan the code to make an appointment, and talk about the new year plan of the e-cigarette industry.