Case 1: Wang Mougang, Shen Moujing, and Feng Mou in Funan County were sentenced for the crime of selling goods with counterfeit registered trademarks
In December 2021, the defendant Wang Mougang rented a factory building in a factory in Funan Economic Development Zone, and hired Shen Moujing, Feng Moujing, and others to sell shoes at prices ranging from 29.9 yuan to 169 yuan through online live streaming on Taobao and WeChat platforms. In September 2022, the county public security bureau and the county market supervision bureau jointly inspected Wang Mougang's business site and found that there were 2,586 pairs of shoes labeled as "BELLE", "BASTO", "TATA", "STACCATO", "ECCO" and other brands, worth 175,948.3 yuan, which were all counterfeit registered trademark products. After further investigation, the public security organs determined that the illegal business turnover of the three defendants was 662,486.7 yuan. The public prosecution held that the three defendants had violated the provisions of Article 214 of the Criminal Law of the People's Republic of China, and that the circumstances were particularly serious, and that the three defendants should be investigated for criminal responsibility for the crime of selling counterfeit trademark registrations. The court held that the three defendants clearly knew that they had not obtained the permission of the owner of the registered trademark, but still sold counterfeit shoes through live streaming for the purpose of illegal profit, and their behavior constituted the crime of selling goods with counterfeit registered trademarks, and sentenced Wang to three years' imprisonment, suspended for three years and six months, and fined RMB 100,000; Shen Moujing was sentenced to one year imprisonment, suspended for one year and six months, and fined RMB 5,000; Feng was sentenced to one year imprisonment with a suspended sentence of one year and six months, and a fine of RMB 5,000; Feng was sentenced to one year imprisonment with a suspended sentence of one year and six monthsand a fine of 5,000 yuan. The seized 2,586 pairs of shoes with counterfeit registered trademarks were confiscated and disposed of by the seizure authorities in accordance with the law.
Case 2: A case of air conditioners infringing on the exclusive right to use the registered trademark of "Gree" air conditioner in a furniture and household appliance living hall in Funan County
On May 8, 2023, the County Market Supervision and Administration Bureau received consumer complaints that the two sets of "Gree" central air conditioners installed by a decoration company when decorating their houses were counterfeit and shoddy products, and requested investigation and punishment. After investigation, the air conditioner involved in the case was purchased from a home appliance living hall in Funan, and the total payment including installation costs was 46,260 yuan. A home appliance living center admitted that the air conditioner involved in the case was sold by itself and could not explain the legal source of the infringing air conditioner. It was determined that the air conditioner involved in the case was a counterfeit product. The behavior of a home appliance living hall violated the provisions of Article 57 (3) of the Trademark Law of the People's Republic of China, constituting an illegal act of selling goods that infringed the exclusive right to use a registered trademark. On August 1, 2023, the County Market Supervision Bureau ordered the parties to stop the infringement in accordance with Article 60 of the Trademark Law of the People's Republic of China, and imposed an administrative penalty of confiscation of the infringing air conditioner and a fine of 50,000 yuan.
Case 3: A candy store in Funan County sold infringing "Alps" candy
On February 13, 2023, the county market supervision bureau received a complaint that the "Alps" candy sold by a candy store was a counterfeit product and requested investigation and punishment. After investigation, a candy store sold a total of 27 boxes of "Alpine" candies of different specifications, and the value of the goods involved was 10,752 yuan. "Alpenliebe" is a registered trademark of Porphyty AG. The candy involved in the case was identified by the owner of the registered trademark as infringing the exclusive right to use the registered trademark. On May 30, 2023, the county market supervision bureau ordered the party to stop the infringement in accordance with Article 60 of the Trademark Law of the People's Republic of China, and imposed an administrative penalty of confiscation of the infringing candy and a fine of 12,902.4 yuan.
Case 4: A mobile phone store in Funan County infringed the exclusive right to use the registered trademark "Apple".
On March 8, 2023, the County Market Supervision and Administration Bureau received a complaint that a mobile phone store in Funan County did not use its "" graphic trademark without the authorization of the registered trademark owner, and requested investigation and punishment. After investigation, the mobile phone store was marked with a signboard with the graphic trademark "" on the front door, and there were light box billboards on the wall of the store that marked "iPhone 14 Pro is strong out of the circle" and "iPhone 14 is super large", and Apple mobile phones and disposable paper cups for drinking water with "" graphics were displayed in the containers. The mobile phone store's failure to provide the trademark authorization agreement issued by the owner of the "" figurative trademark violated Article 57 (2) of the Trademark Law of the People's Republic of China and constituted an infringement of the exclusive right to use a registered trademark. On August 14, 2023, the County Market Supervision Bureau imposed an administrative penalty of a fine of 10,000 yuan on the party in accordance with Article 60 of the Trademark Law of the People's Republic of China.
Case 5: A building materials store in Funan County sold ceramic tile adhesive that infringed the exclusive right to use the registered trademark "Degao Baolai".
On July 13, 2023, the County Market Supervision Bureau received a complaint that the "Degao Baolai" tile adhesive sold by a building materials store infringed the exclusive right to use a registered trademark, and requested investigation and punishment. After investigation, the store has 119 bags of tile adhesive labeled as "Degao Baolai", and 81 bags have been sold, with a total value of 2,400 yuan. "JCDecaux" is a registered trademark of JCDecaux (Guangzhou) Building Materials Co., Ltd., and after its identification, the products involved in the case have not been authorized or licensed by JCDecaux. Article 76 of the Regulations for the Implementation of the Trademark Law of the People's Republic of China stipulates that the use of a sign identical or similar to a registered trademark of another person as a trade name or commodity decoration on the same or similar goods to mislead the public shall be deemed to be an infringement of the exclusive right to use a registered trademark as provided for in Item 2 of Article 57 of the Trademark Law. The conduct of the parties violated the provisions of Article 57 (2) of the Trademark Law of the People's Republic of China, which constituted an illegal act of infringing the exclusive right to use a registered trademark. On August 2, 2023, the County Market Supervision Bureau ordered the parties to correct the illegal acts in accordance with the provisions of Article 60, Paragraph 2 of the Trademark Law of the People's Republic of China, and imposed an administrative penalty of confiscation of the infringing tile adhesive and a fine of 10,000 yuan.
Case 6: A foot bath shop in Funan County used a store name that infringed on the exclusive right to use a registered trademark of another person
On January 18, 2023, the County Market Supervision and Administration Bureau received a report that a foot bath shop used the word "Fuqiao" on the storefront signboard, infringing the right holder's exclusive right to use a registered trademark, and requested investigation and punishment in accordance with the law. The inspection found that the foot bath shop was printed with the words "Fuqiao Foot Bath" on the storefront signboard, the background wall of the cash register, the WeChat Alipay payment code and the price list. "Fuqiao and Tu" is a well-known trademark in China, and the pronunciation of "Fuqiao Foot Bath" and "Fuqiao and Tu" are the same, and the writing is similar, which is easy to cause confusion. The conduct of the parties violated the provisions of Article 57, Paragraph 2 of the Trademark Law of the People's Republic of China, and constituted an illegal act of infringing the exclusive right to use a registered trademark of another person. On May 24, 2023, the County Market Supervision Bureau ordered the parties to correct the illegal acts and imposed an administrative penalty of a fine of 5,000 yuan in accordance with Article 60 of the Trademark Law of the People's Republic of China and Article 28 of the Administrative Punishment Law of the People's Republic of China.
Case 7: A trading company in Funan County sold goods that used the product name of the geographical indication of "Panjin Rice" without authorization
In September 2002, "Panjin Rice" was protected by the National Geographical Indication. After investigation, the Funan County Market Supervision Bureau found that the goods labeled "Panjin Rice" sold by a trading company in Funan County were not within the production area of the "Panjin Rice" geographical indication products, and did not meet the requirements of the "Panjin Rice" geographical indication product standards and management specifications and used the name of the geographical indication product without authorization, which belonged to the act of passing off ordinary products as geographical indication protection products, and violated Article 21 of the "Provisions on the Protection of Geographical Indication Products" and the "Product Quality Law of the People's Republic of China" The provisions of Article 39 constitute an illegal act of selling products that pass off as genuine.
On May 15, 2023, the County Market Supervision Bureau made an administrative penalty decision of confiscation of infringing goods, confiscation of illegal gains, and a fine of 360 yuan in accordance with Article 24 of the Provisions on the Protection of Geographical Indication Products and Article 50 of the Product Quality Law of the People's Republic of China.
Case 8: A health management center in Funan County sold counterfeit patented products
On March 24, 2023, when the county market supervision and administration bureau conducted a law enforcement inspection of a health management center in Funan County, it was found that a certain brand of laundry detergent was placed on the shelves in the business premises for sale, and the bottle was marked with a patent number. After investigation, the patent belongs to Wu Moumou, and the manufacturer and distributor of laundry detergent are not Wu Moumou, but two companies. A health management center in Funan County could not provide a patent authorization letter from Wu Moumou authorizing the two companies to produce or sell the laundry detergent. On June 9, 2023, the county market supervision bureau imposed an administrative penalty of confiscation of 240 yuan of illegal gains and a fine of 240 yuan on the party in accordance with the provisions of Article 68 of the Patent Law of the People's Republic of China.
Case 9: Case of a stationery store in Funan County selling infringing books
On June 26, 2023, the Funan County Radio, Television, Press and Publication Bureau found in an inspection of a stationery store in the county that the stationery store did not apply for a publication business license, and operated 20 copies of "Xinhua Dictionary", which were suspected of infringing publications, which were later identified as infringing publications by the Commercial Press, worth 288.4 yuan. The behavior of the parties violated the provisions of Article 53, Paragraph 1 of the Copyright Law of the People's Republic of China and Article 61 of the Regulations on the Administration of Publications, and constituted an illegal act of distributing their works without the permission of the copyright owner and engaging in the distribution of publications without approval. On August 1, 2023, the Funan County Radio, Television, Press and Publication Bureau formulated the "Quantity and Punishment Standards for Illegal Publications" in accordance with the provisions of Article 53, Paragraph 1 of the Copyright Law of the People's Republic of China, Article 61 of the "Regulations on the Administration of Publications" and Article 29 of the "Administrative Punishment Law of the People's Republic of China", with reference to the "Interpretation of the Supreme People's Court on Several Issues Concerning the Specific Application of Law in the Trial of Criminal Cases of Illegal Publications" and the "Regulations on the Administration of Publications" , ordered the party to stop the illegal acts, and imposed an administrative penalty of giving the party a warning, confiscating 20 copies of the infringing publication and imposing a fine of 500 yuan.
Case 10: Funan County Market Supervision Bureau handled the administrative mediation case of trademark infringement
A company in Guangzhou Ear Rhyme (hereinafter referred to as the Guangzhou Company) discovered that a company named "Funan Ear Rhyme Company (hereinafter referred to as the Funan Company)" operated an offline store called "Ear Rhyme Ear Picking Experience Center", and at the same time opened a store named "Ear Rhyme Experience Center" on the Meituan APP, and launched a group purchase activity. On April 17, 2023, the Guangzhou Company sued Funan Company to the Yingdong District People's Court. The Yingdong District People's Court sent the case to the Funan County Market Supervision Bureau for pre-litigation mediation in accordance with the docking mechanism for litigation and mediation of intellectual property infringement cases.
After mediation by the Funan County Market Supervision Bureau, the two parties reached a mediation agreement after negotiation that Funan Company would change its enterprise name and compensate for economic losses of 7,000 yuan, and Guangzhou Company would give up other litigation claims. The mediation agreement was judicially confirmed by the Yingdong District Court and given legal effect. On November 27, 2023, this case was selected into the "First Batch of Typical Cases of Intellectual Property Mediation in Anhui Province" jointly announced by the Anhui Provincial Market Supervision Bureau, the Provincial Department of Justice, and the Provincial Copyright Office.
