10 Typical Cases of IPR Protection —— Case Example 9

Identifying Infringements based on Customs Administrative Penalty Decisions
To Promote the Formation of a General Environment for IPR Protection
——M Company v. Shenzhen L Company for dispute over trademark infringement

[Case Summary]
M Company is the owner of two registered trademarks. The approved product categories of the above two trademarks include headphones, and both are within the period of effective protection. The defendant's business scope includes domestic trade, import and export of goods and technology, etc. In February 2017, Customs notified M Company that it had seized a batch of headphones exported by Shenzhen  L Company for alleged infringement of M Company’s intellectual property rights. After that, M Company submitted the "Application for Customs Detention" to the Customs and applied for the seizure of the earphones suspected of infringing on the exclusive right of its trademark by L Company. The customs seized and determined L Company's infringement according to law and made corresponding administrative penalty decisions. M Company filed a lawsuit with the court on the grounds of L Company’ s infringement of the trademark right, requesting L Company to immediately stop the infringement and compensate the economic losses and reasonable expenses for safeguarding its rights.
[Ruling Results]
The registered trademarks involved in the case are within the period of effective protection and should be protected by law. After comparison, a logo prominently used in the outer packaging of the export goods of L Company is visually indistinguishable from the two registered trademarks of M Company, which constitutes the "same trademark"; the export goods of L Company and the products approved to use M Company’s two registered trademarks are all earphones, which constitute "the same products". The commodities involved in the case are categorized as "commodities that infringe on the exclusive right to use registered trademarks", and L Company declares the commodities involved in the export case in the form of general trade, and can be categorized as "selling commodities infringing on the exclusive rights to use registered trademarks", which constitutes an infringement on the exclusive right to use the registered trademarks of M Company. In accordance with the law, L Company was ruled to stop the infringement, and M Company should be compensated for the economic losses and the reasonable expenses of safeguarding its rights and interests with the amount of 60,000 yuan.
[Significance]
In the case, L Company clearly stated that it had no objection to the customs seizing measures, and renounced its right to make statements and defenses. The customs found out the relevant infringement actions and made an administrative penalty decision in accordance with the law. During the trial, L Company did not appear in court to participate after being legally summoned. Without evidence to the contrary, the court confirmed the infringement facts and administrative penalty decisions found by the customs, and identified the infringement according to law. Intellectual property protection is a systematic project involving many departments such as legislation, administration, and justice. Strengthening inter-departmental cooperation, and improving the linkage mechanism between the administrative law enforcement agencies and the courts in the investigation and handling of IPR infringement cases are beneficial topromote the formation of a general environment for IPR protection.