On November 26, the Shanghai Intellectual Property Court made a final judgment, carrying the "Genshin Impact E-sports Hotel" directly into the coffin——
Continuing infringement? Pay 350000 yuan!
Change your name to 'Yuansen' and continue to brush the edges? Still infringing!
Reject the appeal in the second instance? Maintain the original verdict!
MiHoYo used real money to tell the whole industry this time: Famous trademarks are not something you can just scratch if you want to!
·Back in 2022, a "Genshin Impact E-sports Hotel" suddenly appeared on the streets of Chenzhou, Hunan:
-Outdoor signboard: huge "Genshin Impact" on white background with blue characters, mistaking the official joint name at a glance;
-Room cards, pillows, and bedside lamps are all represented by symbols of Paimeng and Feng elements;
-Twitter on WeChat official account: "check in and send the original stone", "carve the sunny theme room", comment area Yishuirer "Miha Youniu X";
-Key words of a travel website: Genshin Impact co branded hotel directly hits the list.
The miHoYo patrol team was immediately puzzled: When did I open a hotel???
Lawyer's warning letter → The hotel cannot read back;
Filing a lawsuit → the hotel changed its name to "Yuansen E-sports Hotel" and continued to tweet "Yuansen Genshin Impact Theme Room Heavy Upgrade";
The first trial started → the hotel owner pleaded in court: "'Yuansen' means the forest system, and has nothing to do with 'Genshin Impact'."
Judge's inner OS: Do you treat the public as blind monks?
How to determine the compensation amount for 02? The court, after comprehensive consideration, awarded 350000 yuan
Due to the plaintiff's failure to accurately prove their own losses and the defendant's failure to submit complete account books, the court, in accordance with Article 63 (3) of the Trademark Law, has decided within the statutory compensation limit:
1. Obvious malicious infringement - only making formal changes after receiving a lawyer's letter, the online order continues;
2. The infringement period is relatively long - from June 2022 to August 2023, about 14 months;
3. Large scale infringement - During the OTA backend display period, there were 12000 orders with a turnover of over 3 million yuan;
4. Reasonable expenses - The plaintiff submitted a total of 87000 yuan in notarization fees, lawyer fees, and investigation fee receipts for full support.
The final judgment is that the defendant shall compensate a total of 350000 yuan (including reasonable expenses), and shall complete the performance within 30 days from the effective date of the judgment; Overdue payments will result in double interest on delayed performance.
03 Focus on key points! What does it mean that "Genshin Impact" is judicially recognized as a well-known trademark?
In the past, miHoYo's rights protection could only rely on the category of "registered trademark" to fight against it, and the other party would blindly capture it if they changed the category;
Now, the court directly declares:
"Genshin Impact" constitutes Article 13 of the Trademark Law of the People's Republic of China, which is a well-known trademark with cross category protection!
-Do you work in a hotel? Infringement!
-Do you make coffee? Infringement!
-Do you make car film? Still infringing!
One sentence summary: As long as consumers have the illusion that this is not the official miHoYo, wait for the lawyer's letter!
04 Esports Hotel Industry Earthquake: The "Wealth Password" for Borrowing IPs Has Failed Overnight
As soon as the verdict was announced, a certain industry exchange group exploded instantly:
Should the Zelda themed room in Shanghai be taken down first
Is it still possible to change the name of Pikachu Esports Room to 'Electric Mouse' overnight
Do we need to ask Yuan Gu about Ultraman Capsule Room first
Lawyer's reminder: Famous trademarks are like cross class nuclear bombs, don't take any chances anymore!
-Unauthorized use of character names, element names, and iconic lines may constitute infringement;
-Continue operating after receiving a warning letter, and the compensation amount will be doubled directly;
-Joint liability of the platform: If the OTA platform does not delete the infringing link, it may be sued together.
05 miHoYo Rights Protection Map: From "Hoom" to "Star Dome Railway", Full Fire
Compensation of 120000 yuan for the 2020 "Hoom" Doll Piracy Case;
In the 2021 "Liyue" counterfeit case, compensation of 180000 yuan was paid;
Batch rights protection for "Paimeng" emoticons in 2022, with over 3000 links taken down;
In 2023, 62 infringing domain names were locked before the launch of the "Star Dome Railway";
In 2024, the first case of "Genshin Impact" famous trademark will reach a record of 350000 yuan!
Insiders revealed that the intellectual property team of miHoYo has expanded to 80 people, with no upper limit on the annual budget for rights protection, and the infringement list cannot be pulled to the bottom in Excel.
Three pieces of advice for all creators in 06
1. Originality is the hard currency, riding on popularity is like running naked, and it may die at any time;
2. If you receive a lawyer's letter, don't hesitate. The quickest way to stop losses is to stop them immediately;
The list of well-known trademarks is getting longer, and the next one to collide may be you.
