With the development of the economy and the enhancement of enterprises' awareness of intellectual property rights, more and more enterprises pay attention to trademark protection and carry out strategic layout for the strengthening and expansion of their own brands.
Guiyang Nanming Lao Gan Ma Flavor Food Co., Ltd., its registered trademark "Lao Gan Ma" has been known to a large number of consumers at home and abroad after years of operation and promotion, and has been recognized as a well-known trademark.
However, Lao Gan Ma Company found in the market that the products manufactured and sold by Guizhou Yonghong Food Co., Ltd. were marked with its own "Ox Head Brand and Figure" trademark, and the middle part was printed with the words "Lao Gan Ma flavor", so it sued the company for infringing its exclusive right to the well-known trademark and demanded 3 million yuan in economic compensation.
During the court trial, the defendant company stated that the packaging of the involved products prominently used its registered trademark "Ox Head Brand and Figure", while the font of "Lao Gan Ma flavor" was smaller, and consumers would not be confused or misrecognized about the source of the goods.
In addition to "Lao Gan Ma flavor", beef sticks also have "Original Flavor", "Spicy", "Black Pepper", and "Lao Gan Ma flavor" is a true and reasonable description and use of the product's ingredient brand. Therefore, its production and sale of the involved products do not constitute trademark use behavior, nor do they infringe the plaintiff's trademark exclusive right.
After ascertaining the facts, the court believes:
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Although the defendant's involved products prominently used its registered trademark "Ox Head Brand and Figure", the words "Lao Gan Ma flavor" were located in the middle with a smaller font size. Even if ordinary consumers can distinguish the source of the goods with general attention and will not be confused or misrecognized about the source of the involved products, for well-known trademarks with significant advertising effect, no confusion may still infringe the rights holder's interests.
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"Lao Gan Ma" is not any kind of flavor or ingredient in real life, but a well-known trademark owned by the plaintiff. The defendant's use of "Lao Gan Ma flavor" as a flavor may lead to the weakening of the distinctiveness and recognizability of the involved well-known trademark, and may even lead to its genericization, which constitutes dilution infringement.
In conclusion, the production and sale behavior of the defendant company infringes the exclusive right and prohibition right of the involved trademark owned by the plaintiff. Therefore, the defendant is ordered to immediately stop the infringing behavior and compensate the plaintiff company for a total of 426,500 yuan in economic losses and reasonable expenses.
After the judgment, Guizhou Yonghong Company was dissatisfied with the judgment and appealed to the Beijing High People's Court, but the final result was the rejection of the appeal and the maintenance of the original judgment.
Conclusion:
With the enhancement of intellectual property protection awareness, more and more enterprises pay attention to trademark cultivation, and a large number of well-known trademarks have emerged accordingly.
In contrast, infringers will not simply mark a trademark similar to the well-known trademark on their own products to confuse consumers, but use others' well-known trademarks as the series name of their own products, or describe their own products with others' well-known trademarks to free-ride.
It should be noted that ordinary trademarks can only be protected by law in the categories of goods or services for which they are approved for registration, while well-known trademarks can obtain cross-category protection to varying degrees.
