Text/Golden Wrong Knife Channel
Caption / Visual China
Chinese brands and Japanese brands lost the lawsuit, but Chinese netizens applauded. Such a scene occurred in the recent Beijing Municipal High People's Court.
The whole lawsuit revolves around one thing: "Beijing MUJI" sued "Japan MUJI" for infringing its trademarks for some of its products.
The upper is Beijing MUJI, and the lower is Japanese MUJI
In the previous judgment, the court of first instance and second instance did not support Beijing MUJI's claim.
However, Beijing Muji did not follow and did not spare, and sued the Beijing Municipal Higher People's Court.
So there was a scene that made Chinese netizens applaud: On July 13, the Beijing Municipal High People's Court rejected Beijing Muji's application for retrial.
This case is just a small footnote. In the past decade or so, the lawsuits between the two sides have continued, with the Japanese side suing the Chinese side, and the Chinese side suing the Japanese side, and the cycle is repeated.
Beijing MUJI also often won the lawsuit, not only to apologize to Japan MUJI on the whole network, but also to demand compensation.
Netizens have been indignant, believing that the Chinese side has plagiarized and sued the Lord, which is very disgraceful.
But things are not as simple as netizens think.
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<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="221" > the magical reality of Li Ghost beating Li Kui violently</h1>
How much can Beijing MUJI and Japan MUJI look like?
Outside the store, there are four words of "MUJI", but the word "none", one is traditional and the other is simplified.
When you look at the store, it's more like that.
Warm lights, pure wood decoration style, and the same way of displaying goods.
The products on sale and product design are also similar, notebooks, aromatherapy instruments, lazy sofas...
Looking at the product hangtag of Beijing MUJI, it is almost the same as that of Japanese MUJI.
But they are not similar everywhere. For "MUJI", the understanding of the two sides is very different.
The original meaning of "MUJI" in Japan is "quality goods without labels"; the Chinese side explains that it named it "MUJI", inspired by the Taoist idea of "great dyeing without imprint, great love without boundaries".
Although Beijing MUJI has a good word, in the eyes of many people, it is a "copycat brand".
However, it is such a "cottage brand" that can often gain the upper hand when fighting with Japan's MUJI.
The story goes back 21 years, when Japan's MUJI "fell slow into a thousand years of hatred."
Since 1999, MUJI japan has registered trademarks related to MUJI in China, preparing to enter the Chinese market.
The process was smooth sailing, but it suddenly found that the trademark of the 24th class of goods (cotton fabrics, towels, bed sheets, quilts, etc.) had been applied for registration by a Chinese company in April 2000!
Later, the trademark went into the hands of "Beijing Cotton Field Textile Co., Ltd." (hereinafter referred to as "Beijing Cotton Field"), which is the parent company of Beijing Muji.
Since then, The Sino-Japanese MUJI has begun a long struggle.
In 2001, the Japanese side sued the Chinese side for "preemptive registration of trademarks in bad faith", and after 11 years, it went all the way to the Supreme People's Court, but it still lost the lawsuit, and the trademark of this type of goods was taken down by the Chinese side.
Beijing MUJI store
In 2015, the Chinese side also sued the Japanese side in court, accusing the Japanese side of using the trademark "MUJI" when selling mattress blankets and other goods, which constituted infringement.
The Chinese side's new vendetta and old accounts are calculated together, and it is strictly stated: The Japanese side not only stalks and fights, but also maliciously pesters and encroaches on China's intellectual property rights!
The lawsuit was fought for two years, and the Japanese side lost the case again.
The result is:
1. Japan MUJI compensates Beijing MUJI for 400,000 yuan.
2. Muji Japan cannot use the "MUJI" trademark on cloth, towels, bed sheets, etc., and can only use "MUJI". That's still the case.
3. MUJI Japan must issue a 30-day statement in its Tmall flagship store and all physical stores Chinese mainland, as well as in the Economic Daily, Phoenix Network and other media to eliminate the impact of infringement on Beijing MUJI.
Unexpectedly, because of the last statement, Beijing MUJI sued Japan muji again!
In the statement, the Japanese side explained that the reason why it infringed was because other companies had preemptively registered trademarks.
The problem lies in the term "squatting.".
The Chinese side believes that "squatting" is a derogatory term, a commercial slander, and demands that the other party apologize and compensate 3 million yuan; the Japanese side argues that "squatting" is a neutral word, meaning "preemptive registration", which is an objective description.
The fact that the public is justified and the mother-in-law is justified is still to be decided by the court.
In short, the two sides have been entangled for many years, and although public opinion generally supports Japan's MUJI, Beijing MUJI is standing firm and can still "violently beat" opponents.
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<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="222" > "Beijing MUJI", why is it so arrogant? </h1>
One is the "cottage" in people's eyes, the other is the "genuine" in people's eyes, but Beijing MUJI can fight with Japanese MUJI for many years, why?
To answer this question, two more subdivided questions must be clarified.
1. Why can Beijing MUJI get a trademark?
Beijing's biggest advantage is obvious: its trademark is authentic and valid, protected by Chinese law.
Some products of Beijing MUJI
So why did it get the trademark?
The reason given by the Supreme People's Court is that when a domestic enterprise applies for a trademark, MUJI has not yet entered the Chinese market, and its popularity in the Chinese mainland is very limited.
Therefore, Chinese enterprises do not constitute malicious squatting.
In other words, to blame japan's MUJI products are not famous enough...
Even if it enters the Chinese market, for a long time, the popularity of MUJI is not necessarily how high.
In 2005, Muji Entered the Chinese Market. For the next seven years, its new stores in China were almost single digits every year, and it was not until 2012 that it expanded at a rate of 30 to 50 stores per year.
It is worth mentioning that on the eve of Japan's MUJI's decision to accelerate its expansion in the Chinese market, its opponents took a shot.
In 2011, "Beijing Cotton Field" established Beijing MUJI Investment Co., Ltd. - the MUJI trademark that has been hidden for many years has finally been used.
Back in 1999, Japan's MUJI registered trademarks in a big way, and it was difficult to say that these were coincidences.
2. Why hasn't Beijing MUJI been killed yet?
After losing on the trademark for a while, can't Japan MUJI rely on products to kill opponents?
Especially for beijing MUJI products, many netizens spit bitter water and shouted to be deceived.
Product reviews of Beijing MUJI Online Store
However, such a "unbearable" opponent, Japan's MUJI did not have the ability to kill it.
Since 2016, Japan's MUJI has not had a good time in the Chinese market, and the sales growth rate has gradually declined, or even negative growth.
The status of Muji products in the hearts of Chinese consumers is worse than a day.
First of all, "put on a big card".
Japan's MUJI packaged itself as a "light luxury" in China, the price was dead expensive, and later people learned that it was just a civilian brand in Japan, and immediately felt that it was cut leeks.
Second, the quality of the product is disillusioning.
The law of what you pay for is not well verified by Muji in Japan.
The regulars of the 315 gala have repeatedly experienced product quality problems, such as substandard clothing, furniture, biscuits containing carcinogens, bottled water, and imported food from Japan's nuclear-contaminated areas.
Muji Japan recalls problem bottled water
Finally, Japan's MUJI is too slow.
The speed at which Muji responds to Chinese consumer demand is often the speed of the turtle.
There is a stark example: in the past, the Beds of Muji in Japan were always a few centimeters narrower than the 1.5-meter bed and the 1.8-meter bed that Chinese were accustomed to. They actually found out about it a long time ago, but they didn't solve it until last year.
A developer explained that because Muji's products are sold to the world, before the establishment of the product development team in China in September of the previous year, they did not have enough development and manufacturing channels to manufacture goods for this market in China alone.
In contrast, many Chinese brands do not have these bad problems, cost performance and market response speed are hanging MUJI.
Nowadays, there are Chinese brands with similar styles to MUJI, there are NetEase Yanxuan online, Xiaomi has products, and offline has Famous Creators, each of which has staged the drama of "apprentices defeat teachers".
Therefore, Beijing MUJI can survive to this day, not only because it has drilled a big hole, but also because The Japanese MUJI is too indisputable.
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<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="223" > the good days of Chinese trademark trolling are over</h1>
Several confrontations between China and Japan have attracted the attention of many netizens.
Every time, regardless of the result, for Beijing MUJI, the comments of netizens are always "copycat", "no face", "hooligan"...
In the eyes of many people, although Beijing MUJI has legally won the trademark, it is somewhat of a "trademark troll" face.
People hate trademark hooligans for good reason.
When the domestic epidemic broke out last year, Academician Zhong Nanshan personally went to the front line of the fight against the epidemic, and some people registered dozens of trademarks in the name of Zhong Nanshan.
What is even more resentful is that on the day of Dr. Li Wenliang's death, there were still a large number of people registering the trademark "Li Wenliang".
Whoever has traffic runs the risk of being targeted by trademark trolls.
Trademark hooligans fly camp dogs, naturally for profit.
First, traffic monetization. In 2007, an engineer arbitrarily registered a liquor trademark "Mo Yan Drunk". In 2012, the Chinese writer Mo Yan won the Nobel Prize in Literature, and the value of "Mo Yan Drunk" soared overnight, and the engineer sold the trademark and made 10 million yuan.
Second, extortion. In August 2019, "Jing Hanqing", the well-known UP owner of Station B, was told by an individual industrial and commercial household that "Jing Hanqing" had been registered as a trademark by him, requiring "Jing Hanqing" to change its name, otherwise it would entrust a lawyer to seize all accounts of "Jing Hanqing" on major video platforms.
Third, pit abduction. In March this year, an account called "Wei Ya Yanxuan" appeared on the short video platform, claiming to merchants that "50,000 deposits and 200,000 sales" were guaranteed, and the result was that a live broadcast only sold for a few hundred yuan. When the merchants planned to return the deposit, the boss and employees of "Wei Ya Yan Yan" had already run away.
While trademark trolls are pervasive, their good days are coming to an end.
Since 2018, the Trademark Office has begun to strictly control and reject trademarks found to be hoarded in bad faith, and if it is found that there is a bad faith registration, it will not only reject, but also impose heavier penalties.
In the case of preemptive registration of the "Li Wenliang" trademark, the relevant applicants, agencies and responsible persons were punished with fines of 2,000 yuan, 20,000 yuan and 10,000 yuan respectively.
"Jordan Sports", which once silenced Jordan in the United States in court, has now received the "punishment" it deserves.
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Jordan Sports: That circle is not a basketball, it's a ping-pong racket...
In April last year, the Supreme People's Court ruled that the "Qiaodan + Graphics" trademark should no longer be used for goods such as clothing, shoes and hats in the 25th class of Qiaodan Sports. In December of the same year, the Shanghai Second Intermediate People's Court also ruled that Qiaodan Sports publicly apologized to the plaintiffs in newspapers and online, and clarified the relationship between the two.
In January this year, Qiaodan Sports changed its name to Zhongqiao Sports, and finally parted ways with Jordan in the United States.
In the context of China's manufacturing upgrade and brand upgrade, every day to say "the rise of domestic products" and "go out", how can trademark trolls easily smear the image?
Enterprises that want to take shortcuts should also understand that product strength is the key, and only with this foundation can there be brand power.
By rubbing the left side door of the heat of other brands, sooner or later it will enter a dead end.