Recently, the Wuxi Intermediate People's Court of Jiangsu Province rendered a first-instance judgment on the case, finding the involved decoration and design company liable for trademark infringement and unfair competition. The court ordered the company to immediately cease relevant acts and compensate for economic losses and reasonable expenses totaling 200,000 yuan. This dispute has sparked widespread attention in the industry regarding the cross-class protection of high-reputation trademarks.
One party is a well-known internet real estate service platform, and the other is a company specializing in decoration and design services. The former alleges that the latter’s use of the "Beike" logo in its enterprise name, business activities, and promotional campaigns constitutes trademark infringement and unfair competition.
Trademark Identity Triggers Dispute
Court investigations revealed that Deyou (Tianjin) Real Estate Brokerage Service Co., Ltd. is the registrant of the "Beike" trademarks under Registration Nos. 7859829 and 25199365. These trademarks were registered in October 2013 and December 2018 respectively, approved for use in Class 36 services such as real estate rental and commercial housing sales, and Class 35 services such as advertising and sales on behalf of others.
In January 2021, Deyou Company granted the trademark usage rights to Tianjin Xiaowu Information Technology Co., Ltd., authorizing the latter to independently safeguard rights in its own name.
Established in November 2017, Tianjin Xiaowu Company has operated the "Beike" and "Beike Home" websites since April 2018, and is also the developer and operator of the "Beike Zhaofang" (Beike Housing Search) APP. Starting from 2020, its holding company, Beike Holding Co., Ltd., has set up offline signing service centers in Wuxi and other cities to provide real estate transaction-related services.
In March 2022, the defendant decoration and design company was registered and established in Wuxi, with "Beike" included in its enterprise trade name. Its business scope covers residential interior decoration, construction project construction, etc.
The plaintiff, Tianjin Xiaowu Company, claimed that the defendant’s use of the same "Beike" logo as the registered trademark at its business premises and decoration sites, as well as commercial promotion on Douyin and other online platforms, infringed its exclusive right to use the trademark. Meanwhile, the defendant’s use of "Beike" as its trade name in business activities constitutes unfair competition. Based on this, the plaintiff requested the court to order the defendant to stop the infringement and compensate for losses of 200,000 yuan.
During the trial of the case, the defendant did not submit a defense nor appear in court to respond to the lawsuit.
Free-Riding on Goodwill Unsupported
Regarding the trademark infringement dispute, the Wuxi Intermediate People's Court pointed out that the service categories approved for the plaintiff’s registered trademarks are neither identical nor similar to the decoration and renovation services for which the defendant’s alleged infringing logo is used. Therefore, it is necessary to first examine whether the involved "Beike" trademark constitutes a well-known trademark to fully determine the defendant’s acts.
The court held that since 2018, the "Beike" trademark has been continuously used and extensively promoted by the plaintiff and its affiliated companies, has won numerous important awards, and has high media exposure, establishing wide popularity and influence among the relevant public. By the time the defendant was registered and established in 2022, the trademark had become a well-known trademark familiar to the relevant public and should be entitled to corresponding cross-class protection. The defendant’s prominent use of the "Beike" logo at its business premises, construction sites, and on employee uniforms is sufficient to cause the public to confuse or misidentify the source of services, constituting trademark infringement.
The court further noted that existing evidence shows that when the defendant registered the "Beike" trade name, the plaintiff’s trademark already had high popularity and influence in the industry. The defendant should have known this and taken the initiative to avoid it, but still registered the same text as its enterprise trade name, showing obvious subjective malice of free-riding on goodwill. Objectively, it is likely to cause market confusion and violate the principle of good faith, constituting unfair competition.
Honest Operation Is the Right Path
Both trademarks and trade names are important commercial identifiers for distinguishing sources and bearing goodwill. In practice, conflicts between the two are mostly manifested in the latter-registered trade name free-riding on the prior well-known trademark. Such acts not only damage the legitimate rights and interests of trademark owners, but may also weaken their goodwill, mislead consumers, and disrupt market order. Essentially, they are illegal acts that violate fair competition and should be regulated by law.
Therefore, when choosing a trade name, operators should not only conduct necessary formal searches but also take the initiative to carry out market investigations. Especially when entering fields related to the business of well-known trademark owners, with overlapping audiences or prone to association, operators should assume a higher duty of prudent avoidance.
