Forced to change their name? China's time-honored brand and Tianjin's famous pot dish brand "Da Fu Lai" was questioned by Xingshi

With a century-old history, China's time-honored brand and tianjin's famous pot dish brand "Da Fu Lai" recently received a complaint from Shenyang 'Da Fu Lai' and was facing the dilemma of "delisting". In this regard, Tianjin "Da Fu Lai" has been the first time to the relevant state departments on the Shenyang "Da Fu Lai" trademark application invalidation declaration; At the same time, the signboards of more than 30 franchised stores in Tianjin will be uniformly modified and replaced.

Changed the signboard

At 9:00 a.m. on October 19, although it was already past breakfast time, the bottom merchant Dafulai Hexi Main Store in No. 2 Zhuboli, Hexi District, Tianjin was still in the city. More than a dozen people lined up at the window door to order food, more than a dozen tables in the store were also full, from the gray-haired elderly down to four or five-year-old children, everywhere there were customers with dishes and other seats, and the store was busy outside the store.

At 9:10, Grandpa Wang and Grandma Wu, who lived in Zhu Boli, helped each other into the store. They beat a box of soy milk with their own lunch box, bought three fritters and a bowl of pot vegetables, and brought two cornmeal steamed buns. Grandma Wu introduced to the new financial observation reporter that she and her wife are more than 80 years old this year, but every morning they come to the store to eat a bowl of pots and pans, "just love to eat this bite, we both eat 8 yuan to eat full." Unlike Grandma Wu, Ms. Wu, who is in her 40s, comes to this store twice a week to eat breakfast, "Before the unit was near here, every day, now the unit has moved, I am twice a week, the taste is good, the price is not expensive." She told the New Financial Observer reporter while eating.

Indeed, the new financial observation reporter found that the price of various early breakfasts in Dafulai is comparable to the price of ordinary breakfast shops, and some are even low, but the weight is relatively sufficient. "It is both a long-established brand, but also a good price, you are late, the queue began at 6 o'clock in the morning, the queue is long, some people are willing to spend these 5 parking fees for buying a few dollars early." Staff at the parking lot near Dafulai told the New Financial Observer reporter.

About a month ago, the store changed the signboard, "I just caught up that day, I thought I was going to stop it, and then I saw that it was a sign." "Ms. Wu did not know the reason for the replacement of the signboard," the new one also said 'Da Fu Lai', and added some annotations, I did not look closely, anyway, the taste and price have not changed on the line." ”

According to the new financial observer reporter, from the second half of a few years, Tianjin "Dafulai" began to modify and replace the original signboard. By the end of October, the signs of more than 30 franchise stores in Tianjin had been renewed, with new contents such as "Chinese Time-honored Brand" and Halal Logo. Although the store is still those stores, the price and taste are the same as before, and for consumers, this change can even be ignored, but behind this is the change made by the century-old brand after it is deeply involved in trademark disputes, and such changes largely determine its future direction.

Missing a centimeter

In Tianjin, pot food is called the "three major pieces" of breakfast together with soy milk and old tofu, and "da fu lai" is almost synonymous with pot food. The founder of DaFu Lai Guo Ba Cuisine is the thirteenth generation descendant of Zhang Qing, a good Han vegetable garden in Liangshan in the Song Dynasty. Once Qianlong passed through Tianjin on his way back to Jiangnan, and inadvertently ate the dish of "shredding pancakes, adding salt, sesame oil, and coriander, and flushing with boiling water" in the pancake shop of Zhang Zhang, and was given the name "Pot Dish". A few days later, the imperial guards returned to the pancake shop with the silver rewarded by the emperor, and when they entered the door, they shouted: "Your great blessing is coming", "Great blessing to the pot dish" became famous.

According to the relevant person in charge of Tianjin Dafulai, there was already Dafulai in 1757, "in 1924 it obtained a business license, in the 1990s it registered the food trademark 'Dafulai', and in 2002 it was rated as 'China Time-honored Brand'." The person in charge told the New Financial Observer reporter. During the period from 2004 to 2006, Tianjin Dafulai neglected the registration of catering trademarks due to rectification. It was not until January 19, 2007, when Tianjin Dafulai submitted the application for the registration of the "Dafulai" catering trademark, that it was learned that the Dafulai Hotel in Shenhe District, Shenyang City, had applied for the "Dafulai" catering trademark (designated service item: restaurant) on December 4, 2006, and the application time was 45 days late for Tianjin Dafulai.

According to the former director of Tianjin Tianjin Trademark Office, the trademark agent of Tianjin Dafulai, Shenyang was able to pass the preliminary examination in accordance with the principle of applying first in accordance with the Trademark Law. But after all, the long-established Chinese brand of "Dafulai" and its popularity in Tianjin and related historical materials are facts that cannot be ignored. Therefore, the next step was a six-year negotiation process between the two parties on the trademark issue. "First Tianjin Dafulai filed an opposition to the approval of the initial examination of Shenyang Dafulai's trademark, and then the Trademark Review and Adjudication Board under the State Administration for Industry and Commerce at that time conducted a reexamination." Mia recalled to the new financial reporter. However, in the end, the relevant departments believed that the registration of Shenyang "Da Fu Lai" was a coincidence, not a malicious preemptive registration, so the objection was not established, and Shenyang Da Fu Lai Hotel was registered.

Only 45 days apart, Tianjin Dafulai and the "Dafulai" catering trademark lost, which is indeed a pity. According to Mia Qian, because Shenyang registered a catering trademark and used it in the plaque, Tianjin Dafulai registered a food trademark before, so if it is also directly used for the plaque according to the catering trademark, it should constitute infringement. "But also take into account the special circumstances, on the one hand, Tianjin Dafulai is a chinese time-honored brand, and the old-fashioned brand corresponds to the previously registered commodity trademark when it is recognized; In addition, Tianjin Dafulai later registered a service trademark for food processing. However, none of this is reflected in the plaque, so the plaques of Shenyang and Tianjin are easily confused.

However, since the recognition of the "Da Fu Lai" catering trademark in Shenyang in 2010, the two companies have been at peace with each other, after all, they are engaged in different types of catering business in different cities.

He was questioned by Xingshi

The change happened in April of this year.

"In early April, we received three complaints from Shenyang Dafulai, who reported and sent us relevant materials and evidence through the online platform, asking for investigation and punishment of Tianjin Dafulai for trademark infringement, after which we filed a case for investigation." The staff of the market management department of Hongqiao District of Tianjin Introduced to the New Financial Observer reporter.

At about the same time, Shenyang Dafulai also contacted Tianjin Dafulai and asked for cooperation with the latter or authorized the use of the "Dafulai" trademark. According to Mia Qian, the main complaint from Shenyang is the franchise store of Tianjin Dafulai, because "according to the relevant laws and regulations, Tianjin Dafulai Company, as a 'long-established', simplifies the use of the enterprise name 'Dafulai' on the plaque, or as a service trademark that has been used before 1993 (the provisions of the Trademark Law on the continued use of service trademarks), Tianjin Dafulai Company itself has no problem using 'Dafulai' on the plaque, and the use of franchised stores is to expand the scope of business, which is suspected of infringement". Although Tianjin Dafulai signed a commodity trademark and a "food processing" service trademark licensing contract with the franchisee, it was not reflected on the plaque and it was difficult to explain clearly.

According to the relevant person in charge of Tianjin Dafulai, at present, There is only one direct-operated store in Dafulai, and the remaining more than 30 are all franchised stores. The magnitude of the impact speaks for itself. In any case, "as a century-old brand, how can it be 'delisted' or authorized by Shenyang?" Mia said before. In this case, Tianjin Dafulai filed an invalidation declaration against the Shenyang "Dafulai" trademark with the Trademark Review and Adjudication Board of the State Administration for Market Administration. The application for invalidation was made on the grounds that the other party had registered for non-use purposes.

At the same time, Tianjin Dafulai also adjusted the content of the plaques of all franchise stores, including "1." Highlighting the characteristics of halal, this is the most important difference from Shenyang; 2。 Highlight your own unique LOGO (DFL graphics); 3。 Clearly mark registered trademarks for goods and 'food processing' service marks; 4。 Tianjin Dafulai Company is clearly marked as a 'Chinese time-honored brand' enterprise. ”。 The revised plaque, "can be distinguished at a glance from the catering service trademark of Shenyang Dafulai." ”

At this point, Tianjin Dafulai has done everything it can, and the next step is to wait for the final ruling of the State Trademark Review and Adjudication Board on the "invalidation declaration". According to Mi Aqian, there will probably be a result until February next year, during which the market management department of Hongqiao District in Tianjin can only suspend the handling of complaints. "In the event of a trademark dispute, we will suspend the investigation." The staff of the market management department said, "We have also truthfully informed Shenyang of this situation." ”

Possible outcomes

As of now, Shenyang Dafulai has not given any reply, during which time Tianjin Dafulai temporarily continued to use the revised plaque. If Shenyang Dafulai no longer takes any measures until the State Market Administration has a final ruling on the invalidation declaration, then all the parties can do is wait for a result - whether Tianjin Dafulai constitutes infringement. It is worth noting that when Shenyang Dafulai complained about it, it was aimed at the "Dafulai" mark on the original plaque, and after the complaint, Tianjin Dafulai has made changes and removals, and the form of the two plaques before and after the two plaques is different. That is to say, even if the final result is found to be infringement by Tianjin Dafulai, it is still a ruling before the revision of the plaque. Usually, the liability for trademarks is divided into several situations, "if there is a conflict, it is ordered to stop using, which is an administrative punishment; If it is more serious or involves repeated infringement and causes economic losses to the complaining party, there will be financial compensation, but this case is not involved; In addition, if the rectification is ordered to refuse to be carried out, it will be fined and punished. Mia introduced.

At present, Tianjin Dafulai itself has taken the initiative to modify the plaque, so the revised situation needs to be re-judged.

The result that Mia expected to see before was that the plaque before the modification did conflict with Shenyang Dafulai, so it constituted infringement, but Tianjin Dafulai had corrected itself, and the revised plaque was also different from the catering service trademark of Shenyang Dafulai, so the revised plaque should not constitute infringement. "Of course, this is only a result of speculation based on my many years of legal work experience, but there is also a certain basis, and it is not easy for the other party to completely overturn it." At the same time, he also stressed that "no matter how it is modified, there will be conflicts, and we can only minimize the degree of conflict, even if we have to bear some tort liability, we must control it within a reasonable scope, not obvious infringement." Whether the final revised plaque conflicts with Shenyang, there must be an administrative or judicial decision or judgment, in the final analysis, "if you get the real catering trademark registration, it is a completely legal sense of use, so all we can do now is to modify." ”

In his view, such a long-established enterprise as Dafulai, has been delayed in the legal protection of trademark rights because of the restructuring of the enterprise, and it is too late to prepare for legal protection after the completion of the restructuring. ”

An industry insider specializing in the study of old brands in Beijing also pointed out that the old brands are inherited from a very early stage, and in the later development process, some because of the lack of legal awareness, some because of their own separation, and there are also people with ulterior motives who rub the old brands, in short, a variety of situations have led to trademark problems in some old brands. "To improve the relevant legal departments, the lessons that should be made up should be made up, and the losses that should be borne should also be borne, all for the better development of the enterprise." The person told the New Financial Watch reporter.

The source of this article: New Financial Observer, reported by the catering industry (WeChat ID: canyinj), please indicate the source when reprinting!