Directed by Xu Zheng, his film debut "The Tai 囧 of The Journey of Man Again" was released in 2012 and grossed 1.267 billion yuan, becoming the box office champion of Chinese films at that time.
However, in 2013, Wuhan Huaqi Film and Television Production Co., Ltd., the producer of "People on the Road" previously starring Xu Zheng and Wang Baoqiang, sued several companies and directors such as Beijing Guangguang Media and director Xu Zheng, who participated in the production of "Tai Lu", in the name of "infringement".
Poster of "Man on the Road":
In the view of Wuhan Huaqi, the above-mentioned parties involved in the case changed the name of the film from "Tai 囧" and "Ren Zai 囧" to "Tai 囧 of Ren Zai 囧" is an act of using the same or similar name as the unique name of "Ren Ren Lu", which is likely to lead to confusion and misidentification of the relevant public, violating the Anti-Unfair Competition Law.
After five years, the lawsuit finally had a result after two trials. The Supreme People's Court found that "Tai 囧" violated the "Anti-Unfair Competition Law" and the "Tort Liability Law of the People's Republic of China", and Xu Zheng and five producers, Guangguang Media and Zhenledao Company, were ordered to pay 5 million yuan in compensation to Wuhan Huaqi Film and Television Company, the copyright holder of "People on the Road".
The court held that when determining whether a film work is a well-known commodity, due to the cultural characteristics of the film commodity, especially the level of the box office, and the marketing means, channels, environment, schedule, etc., when determining whether the film work is a well-known commodity, it is not appropriate to simply rely on the ranking of the box office or the number of awards, but should comprehensively examine many factors and make a comprehensive judgment. "People on the Road" is a "well-known commodity".
At the same time, the director, lead actor, and producer of "Ren Zai 囧之泰囧" and "Ren Zai 囧之泰囧" in public remarks associated "Ren Zai 囧之泰囧" with "Ren Zai 囧之匫囧" with "Ren Zai 囧之泰囧" in public remarks, which is easy to confuse and misidentify consumers, improperly use the prior goodwill of "Ren Ren On the Road", and violate the relevant provisions of Article 5, Item 2 of the Anti-Unfair Competition Law.
The court said that due to the confusion caused by the relevant public, "People Again" received great attention in the early stage of its release, and in the case that Huaqi Company had already begun to prepare for the filming of "Ren Lu 2", it undoubtedly damaged huaqi company's competitive interests.