On the morning of April 26, the People's Court of Haidian District, Beijing, publicly tried the trademark infringement and unfair competition case between Tsinghua University and Beijing Qingyou Education Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Qingyou Education") in the first instance. More than 30 media and platforms broadcast the whole process live, and the live broadcast was jointly produced by the Information Bureau of the Supreme People's Court, the "Trial Scene" column of the Social and Legal Channel of China Central Radio and Television, the Beijing High People's Court, and the Beijing Haidian District People's Court.
During the trial, Tsinghua University held that there were three infringements without permission: first, it used a large number of the word "Tsinghua" and logos in its official website and official WeChat, second, it used pinyin "qinghua" in the domain name of its official website, and third, it cooperated with a third party in the name of "Tsinghua University" to use the name and plaque with the word "Tsinghua", and the aforesaid acts infringed on the trademark rights enjoyed by Tsinghua University. The third item also belongs to the unauthorized use of the name and abbreviation of Tsinghua University, which constitutes an act of unfair competition that confuses using. Therefore, it is requested that Qingyu Education be ordered to stop the infringement, eliminate the impact, and compensate for economic losses of 1 million yuan and reasonable expenses of 52,520 yuan.
In this regard, Qingyou Education argued that its acts involved in the case did not constitute trademark infringement and unfair competition. The use of preschool education has relevant authorization and cooperation basis, its controlling shareholder Muhua Chengzhi Education Technology Co., Ltd. and Tsinghua University affiliated to Beijing Tsinghua Jiehua Kindergarten has signed a cooperation agreement, clarifying that the two sides jointly carry out preschool education cooperation, the establishment of Tsinghua preschool education resource center, to promote Tsinghua preschool education online courses to the whole country, and then Muhua Chengzhi Education Technology Co., Ltd. authorized it to carry out relevant cooperation and promotion activities, which focuses on the use of "Tsinghua preschool education", so there is a right basis for its use. Early Childhood Education is engaged in early childhood education, while Tsinghua University's popularity is mainly concentrated in the field of higher education, there is no competition between the two parties, and Early Childhood Education does not use relevant logos on the same service. Therefore, Qing Early Childhood Education requested that all of Tsinghua University's litigation claims be dismissed.
Under the auspices of the collegial panel, the two sides fully elaborated and debated on key issues such as whether the acts involved in the case had an authorized basis, whether they constituted trademark infringement and unfair competition, how to bear legal liability, and how to determine the amount of compensation. At the end of the trial, both parties agreed to mediate, and the court did not announce the verdict in court.
April 26 this year marks the 24th World Intellectual Property Day. Eighty students from the School of Foreign Chinese affiliated to Beijing University of Foreign Chinese observed the trial. In the online live broadcast, Du Ying, a professor at the Law School of the Central University of Finance and Economics, and Wang Xiaolei, the host of China Central Radio and Television, communicated with netizens online and answered questions from netizens. Du Ying said that the protection of intellectual property rights is the protection of innovation, and hopes that through this case, more market players can standardize their behavior, operate with integrity, jointly maintain a good business environment, and promote the high-quality economic and social development of the mainland.
Source: Information Bureau of the Supreme People's Court
Author: Yu Yaru
Photo source: China Central Radio and Television Social and Law Channel Beijing Haidian District People's Court
Editor: Lu Lu
Editor of this article: Xiao Fei
Review of this article: Zhang Zhongtao