Recently, a news that "Nanfu Battery sued many merchants in Xuzhou, Jiangsu" has attracted the attention of netizens. According to the merchants who were sued, the purchase price of fake batteries was not cheap, and they did not know about the sale of counterfeits, during which the brand did not ask to be removed from the shelves, until they received a notice from the court, they learned that they were sued.
According to the complaint, Nanfu Battery sued the merchant for selling counterfeit products for profit, infringing on trademark rights, and demanded compensation of tens of thousands of yuan. "Merchants accept mediation to pay four or five thousand yuan, many people can't afford to choose mediation, Nanfu battery should be traced back to the source of counterfeiting, is it deliberately aimed at merchants to fight fakes?"
In this regard, the relevant person in charge of Nanfu Battery Company said that the company has long been committed to fighting counterfeiting nationwide, and there are actions at both the counterfeiting end and the counterfeiting end, focusing on the counterfeiting and counterfeiting end, and the company is also legitimate to protect its rights.
Don't trace the source of counterfeiting, keep an eye on merchants to fight counterfeiting?
Nanfu battery was questioned
According to local media reports in Xuzhou, some merchants in Xuzhou received a notice from the court that they were sued by Nanfu Battery for selling counterfeit products and infringing trademark rights, and many were sued.
Tianyancha APP shows that Fujian Nanping Nanfu Battery Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Nanfu Battery) is involved in a large number of judicial cases, of which 80% of the causes of action are trademark infringement disputes, the company is mostly the plaintiff, and the defendants in Linyi, Xuzhou, Jiaozhou and other places, many are tobacco hotels, supermarkets, stationery stores and other stores.
A number of Xuzhou merchants who were sued told Jimu News reporters that the purchase channels of each store are different, but the purchase price of the Nanfu batteries sold is not cheap. They didn't know that the Nanfu batteries they were selling were fakes, and the brand did not ask for them to be removed from the shelves until they received a notice from the court, and they learned that they had been sued. Looking at the evidence, it was found that as early as around March 2023, the brand had come to the store to buy batteries for evidence, but did not disclose their identities at that time. According to the merchant, this fake battery is very similar to the genuine product, and it is difficult for non-professionals to judge it by the naked eye. The brand requires the merchant to compensate tens of thousands of yuan, but if it accepts mediation, it only needs to pay a few thousand yuan.
Batteries sold in stores (Source: Screenshot of media live broadcast)
According to the civil complaint provided by a merchant, the plaintiff (complainant) is Fujian Nanping Nanfu Battery Co., Ltd., and the defendant is the store operated by the merchant. The facts and reasons are that the agent of the plaintiff company found that the defendant was selling counterfeit "Nanfu" batteries during the market investigation, and then determined that the defendant had indeed sold counterfeit "Nanfu" batteries in the process of purchasing from the defendant's store, and applied for evidence preservation notarization to a notary office in March 2023 for the defendant's infringement and obtained a notarial certificate. The plaintiff argued that the alleged infringing products sealed by the notary public in the notary deed of this case were very similar to Nanfu products, but after careful comparison with Nanfu products, it was found that there were obvious differences between the two. The defendant sold counterfeit products of the plaintiff's registered trademark for the purpose of profit, which not only infringed the plaintiff's trademark rights and damaged the plaintiff's brand reputation, but also seriously affected the sales of Nanfu genuine products in the market, causing huge economic losses to the plaintiff. In addition, the counterfeit "Nanfu" has serious safety risks, which always endangers the life, health and property rights of consumers.
The claim states that the defendant should be ordered to immediately stop selling the infringing products infringing the plaintiff's registered trademark, that the defendant should be ordered to compensate the plaintiff for economic losses and expenses incurred in protecting its rights in accordance with the law, and that the defendant should bear the litigation costs of this case.
The merchant told reporters that Nanfu Battery demanded compensation of 20,000 yuan, but the brand did not inform the merchant of the relevant situation in time after collecting evidence, and the case was filed late, and the evidence in the hands of some merchants was incomplete. "I don't want to mediate, it's a big controversy, and I have provided some evidence. ”
In addition, the merchants also complained that Nanfu Battery should be traced back to the source of counterfeiting, but they sued many sales-end merchants, suspecting that it deliberately targeted merchants for counterfeiting.
Company Response:
There are actions against both counterfeiting and counterfeiting
A Xuzhou merchant who successfully mediated told reporters that in 2023, Nanfu Battery and him mediated before trial, and in the end he chose to compensate four or five thousand yuan to settle the matter. According to his recollection, he bought the goods from a battery dealer, and the other party had blocked him after the incident. "Nanfu battery asked for compensation of more than 10,000 yuan, if the merchant asked a lawyer to fight a lawsuit, there were a lot of expenses before and after, and many people took mediation to resolve the dispute with this mentality. ”
The merchant said that his store is not large, it is an ordinary small store, and now he does not dare to sell Nanfu batteries. Large supermarkets have suppliers to store goods, and the supply of small stores cannot be guaranteed, so the brand has found these merchants very accurately, and many friends around him have the same experience.
Nanfu Battery's lawsuit against many merchants in Xuzhou has caused heated discussions among netizens, and it is reported that thousands of merchants in Xuzhou have been sued?
In this regard, the staff of the plaintiff's law firm who represented the case said that there were not so many merchants in Xuzhou who were sued, and Nanfu Battery started to fight counterfeiting in the early years, which was a legitimate right to protect its rights. At present, they are also looking for the source of this batch of fakes in Xuzhou.
Regarding the direct prosecution of the merchant without notifying the merchant in advance, the above-mentioned staff said: "There were staff members who went to some stores to communicate before, but they were bombarded, and it was impossible to go to every store due to limited manpower." What if a consumer buys a fake battery and gets injured in an accident?"
The case of Nanfu Battery Company (source: Tianyancha)
On April 9 and 11, the staff of Nanfu Battery Company told Jimu News that there were more than 100 businesses involved in the case in Xuzhou, and more than 1,000 were not prosecuted. The company has long been committed to fighting counterfeiting nationwide, the focus of the anti-counterfeiting action is to target the source of counterfeiting, counterfeiting and counterfeiting (small shops) have action, the company is legitimate rights protection, the starting point is to protect the legitimate rights and interests of consumers and genuine merchants, and maintain a good business environment.
The staff also said that as far as he knows, the previous individual communication with some stores was not effective, and it took time for market research, notarization, and court acceptance, and "more than 100 merchants" was the cumulative number since 2023. In the sales side of the anti-counterfeiting, there will be mediation first, and if the mediation is unsuccessful, it will be at the stage of prosecution and trial. The purpose of compensation is to deter the manufacture and sale of counterfeit goods and to avoid the recurrence of counterfeit sales. The source of this batch of fakes in Xuzhou has many purchase channels, which cannot be ruled out as cross-regional, and it may also be the source of counterfeiting that the company has cracked down on before.
The above-mentioned staff member said that the company will not reduce its efforts to crack down on counterfeiting.
Some Xuzhou merchants have revealed in interviews with the media that they have doubts about the evidence provided by Nanfu Battery, believing that the production time or product specifications of the tested batteries are different from those purchased during the evidence collection.
On the 10th, the reporter also contacted the notary office involved to understand the situation, and the staff said that they were inconvenient to respond to the matter.
Source: Jimu News