Netizens mentioned in the obituary that "Lianhua Qingwei" received a lawyer's letter, is this considered infringement?

Modern Express News (Reporter Wang Rui) Because of an obituary released on social platforms, not long ago, netizen "Nie Shengzhe 2023" (hereinafter referred to as: Nie Shengzhe) received a lawyer's letter from Shijiazhuang Yiling Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Yiling Pharmaceutical"), a manufacturer of Lianhua Qingwei. The lawyer's letter claimed that his actions violated the company's right to reputation, and demanded that it delete the relevant infringing remarks and apologize for 90 consecutive days.

In this regard, Nie Shengzhe immediately said on his Weibo that he was "a little unaware and unconvinced." He apologized to himself and conducted a "poll" on Weibo. So, is Nie Shengzhe's behavior suspected of reputation infringement? In this regard, many lawyers also held different views in interviews with Modern Express reporters.

Netizens received a lawyer's letter from Yiling Pharmaceutical

said he was asked to apologize

It is reported that on December 22, 2022, Nie Shengzhe posted an obituary on his Weibo account, the "obituary" said, "Before Comrade Wang died, he insisted on posting a circle of friends and drying Lianhua Qingwen capsules..." This obituary was widely forwarded online and caused controversy. On January 6 this year, the entire Weibo account posted that it had "received a lawyer's letter from Yiling Pharmaceutical, the manufacturer of Lianhua Qingwen" and distributed pictures of the lawyer's letter.

According to the lawyer's letter, Beijing Lanpeng Law Firm accepted the entrustment of Shijiazhuang Yiling Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. in accordance with the law, and appointed lawyer Zhang Qihuai to solemnly write to Nie Shengzhe on matters related to the infringement of the client's reputation rights by making remarks on the Sina Weibo platform and WeChat Moments.

The lawyer's letter stated that Nie Shengzhe's obituary published on the Sina Weibo platform and WeChat moments on December 22, 2022, once the infringing remarks were released, caused reprinting, discussion and malicious speculation on major Internet platforms, and a large number of articles containing the above-mentioned infringing remarks and false information about "Lianhua Qingwen Capsules" were widely disseminated.

The lawyer's letter stated that Nie Shengzhe's above-mentioned behavior caused extremely serious consequences to Yiling Pharmaceutical, misled netizens and consumers who did not know the truth, damaged the good brand image of Yiling Pharmaceutical, lowered the social evaluation of Yiling Pharmaceutical, devalued the good reputation of Yiling Pharmaceutical, brought major economic losses to Yiling Pharmaceutical, and seriously violated the legitimate rights and interests of Yiling Pharmaceutical. At the same time, it made a request: "Nie Shengzhe deleted the relevant infringing remarks published by his Sina Weibo platform account "Nie Shengzhe 2023" and WeChat Moments; The Weibo account was placed at the top of the account, WeChat Moments, and publicly distributed nationwide newspapers to publicly apologize to Yiling Pharmaceutical, and the apology lasted for not less than 90 days."

Client: "Because of incomprehension and dissatisfaction"

Publicly solicit the opinions of netizens to decide whether to apologize

Regarding the lawyer's letter, Nie Shengzhe responded in a Weibo post, saying, "Today I am very pleased to receive a lawyer's letter from Yiling Pharmaceutical, the manufacturer of Lianhua Qingwen, which is standardized, clear in narrative, very cultivated and full of goodwill... However, I am a little unconvinced and unconvinced by the advice, criticism and demands of this letter. Nie Shengzhe said that he was at a loss, but he was willing to obey public opinion, "in the form of a poll, to decide this matter: apologize or not apologize?" If an apology, in what form? Please leave a frank message regardless of my face, so that I can make a decision based on the polls. If the poll results really need to apologize, I must be serious, and I must write documents such as confessions, and I must write sincerely to be worthy of Lianhua Qingwei. ”

On January 10, he also posted "Nie Shengzhe: I wrote a lawyer's letter to myself" on his Weibo account, sending himself a lawyer's letter from the other party's perspective, and saying that "it may be more accurate to write this way..."

On the day Nie Shengzhe released the news that he had received a "lawyer's letter", this matter aroused the attention and heated discussion of a large number of netizens.

Through inquiries, the reporter learned that Shijiazhuang Yiling Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. was founded on June 16, 1992, and has developed more than 10 patented new drugs such as Tongxinluo capsules for the treatment of coronary heart disease and cerebral infarction, Jiansong Yangxin capsules for the treatment of arrhythmias at the same time as fast and slow, Qianqiangxin capsules for the treatment of chronic heart failure and Lianhua Qingwen capsules for colds and anti-influenza, and obtained 660 patents as of December 31, 2020.

Lawyer Statement

Is the message posted by Moments infringing?

So, is Nie Shengzhe's writing suspected of infringement? In this regard, a number of lawyers also expressed different views in interviews with reporters.

Hu Chunyan, a lawyer at Jiangsu Tianni Law Firm, believes that whether it constitutes goodwill infringement, it is first necessary to determine two facts: First, before Wang died, he insisted on posting a circle of friends and drying flowers to clear the pestilence. That is, did Wang send a circle of friends, sunbathing flowers and clearing the pestilence; Second, Nie Shengzhe said that he sent the picture to the relevant personnel, is this a fact? If both of the above points are fabricated by Nie Shengzhe, it may constitute a goodwill infringement. Secondly, if this incident is just Nie Shengzhe expressing his evaluation on the basis of facts, then Yiling Pharmaceutical, as a public company, should accept everyone's doubts, and at the same time respond to such doubts with scientific data, rather than intimidating doubters through legal means. In addition, by "firing" at Weibo users, Yiling Pharmaceutical intends to eliminate criticism, and its own behavior is not conducive to social progress.

Ni Jun, a lawyer at Beijing Guantao Zhongmao (Nanjing) Law Firm, believes that even on the basis of facts, whether Nie Shengzhe's words constitute reputation infringement depends on how to interpret it, if the author himself is ridiculing and ironic, and the literacy is indeed slightly lacking, it is likely to cause a consequence of belittling the effect of Lianhua Qingwen, and it is indeed inappropriate to publish content in such a way in the absence of conclusive evidence to prove that the efficacy of Lianhua Qingwen is problematic. Even if it is confirmed that Lianhua Qingwen has limited efficacy in some diseases, it is also problematic to publish it in a sarcastic and ridiculous way and cause widespread transmission. "It's okay to question it, everyone has the right to question, but be polite and courteous, be able to say why, not judge arbitrarily." However, Ni Jun also said that Nie Shengzhe could apologize conditionally for some of his inappropriate behavior, such as asking Yiling Pharmaceutical to provide relevant certificates of the efficacy of Lianhua Qingwen. Lv Jinyan, a lawyer at Nanjing Zhongshan Mingjing Law Firm, also believes that "making these remarks without evidence personally believes that it is suspected of reputation infringement." ”

According to media reports, whether Nie Shengzhe was really sued in the future, the appointed lawyer said that "the final decision depends on Yiling Pharmaceutical".

At present, it is unknown whether "Yiling Pharmaceutical" will choose to sue Nie Shengzhe, and whether Nie Shengzhe's behavior is suspected of infringement ultimately depends on how the court decides.

(Image source: @Nie Shengzhe 2023 Weibo)