Category Archives: Settlement

Will JDB Revoke Wang Lao Ji Trademark Arbitration Award through Litigation?

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By You Yunting

In recent, a spat over the established brand Wang Lao Ji, also known as Wong Lo Kat, which is the most valuable herbal tea trademark in China, has occurred. The biggest distributor of the drink in China, JDB group, claimed that it has filed the application to Beijing No. 1 Peoples’ Bank to revoke the adjudication made by the China International Economic and Trade Committee (CIETAC) on the dispute.

The basic facts of the case in the reports: Guangzhou Pharmaceutical Group Co., Ltd. (the “Guangzhou Pharmaceutical’, SZSE: 600332) is the registered owner of the Wang Lao Ji trademark, who signed a trademark license agreement with Hung To Group Co., Ltd. (the “Hung To”, the parent company to JDB), by which Hung To gets the loan of the trademark of 10 years.

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Data on IPR Development in China, 2011

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In recent, the News Office of the State Council held a news conference (note: the link is in Chinese), releasing the data on China IPR development in 2011, and the details are as follows:

Under the unified deployment of special acts by the State Council in combating the IPR infringement and the production and selling of the fake and substandard products, the filed cases in the administration of each level are 155, 900 with the involved amount of CNY 3.43 billion, 1, 702 cases were transferred to judicial organs and 9, 135 shelters were shut down.

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The iPad Battle Comes into Price Negotiation Phase, Apple Offered Proview $16 Million But Refused (Updated)

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by You Yunting

According to the report of China media(note: the link is in Chinese), the iPad battle in mainland China has seen a lifting turn. The parties, Proview and Apple, have come into the phase of reconciliation and price negotiation from the previous heat argument on the court, and the main difference between the parties is the gap on the compensation. But no matter the result is, the decision of Guangdong Higher People’s Court will be delayed for both parties’ willing to the reconciliation. By the report of Jinghua News (note: the link is in Chinese), Apple’s offer of 100 million yuan (1.6 million US dollar) to purchase the iPad trademark has been refused by Proview.

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iPad Trademark Battle: Court Seeks Conciliation while New Hearing Not Excluded

According to the report, the judge of Guangdong Higher People’s Court stated on 17th April that the court will make a comprehensive consideration on the newly filed iPad trademark dispute between Apple and Proview for the social and legal benefit, and make a reasonable arrangement on the issue. Guangdong Higher People’s Court is seeking the conciliation between the parties under their voluntariness.

Mr. Xu Chunjian, the deputy chief judge of Guangdong Higher People’s Curt, says the iPad trademark battle will produce a deep influence on the market share in China of iPad as well as the development of the product’s commercial model. Therefore, it demands the maximum realization of the parties’ interests with the fair and strict application of the law by the court. Meanwhile, the presiding judge of the third civil hearing court of Guangdong People’s Higher Court Mr. Qiu Qingyong also stated that a new hearing may be arranged when new facts appear to be investigated after the examination on the current evidences.

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To Stem the Passing Off on Michael Jordan

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As reported, Michael Jordan, the basketball legend, made an announcement through PR Newswire that he’s formally suing Chinese sportswear maker Qiaodan Sports (the “Qiaodan Company”) for using without authorization. To Jordan’s words, what makes him more disappointed is his children’s names are also infringed by the company, and he also added the lawsuit is not about money.

Actually “Qiaodan”, the transliteration in Chinese of Jordan, accompanied with the logo of a basketball man have long been used by the Chinese sportswear maker, and that could not be newly known to Jordan in afraid. However, the lawsuit is filed when Qiaodan Company is preparing its listing; therefore “it’s not about money” might more accurately to be “it’s not ALL about money”.

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Latest News of iPad Battle: Shenzhen Court Refused Bankruptcy Application against Shenzhen Proview

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According to the news from China Daily (note: the link is in Chinese), there’s new progress in the iPad battle between Apple and Proview, and just like our past judgement, for the value of iPad trademark is impossible to estimate, the Shenzhen Intermediate People’s Court recently adjudicated the refusal on Taiwan Fubon Insurance’ s application on the bankruptcy liquidation of Shenzhen Proview.

Taiwan Fubon Insurance applied the bankruptcy liquidation to the Shenzhen Intermediate People’s Court on Shenzhen Proview who failed to clear the debt due and being insolvency. After the investigation, the court takes Shenzhen Proview as the only legal owner of iPad trademark for the mark is still registered under the name of Shenzhen Proview. Currently, Shenzhen Proview’s intangible asset are remained un-estimated with its value not determined, and thus it could not decide whether Shenzhen Proview is trapped in insolvency and enable to pay its debt; therefore the court adjudicated the refusal of Taiwan Fubon Insurance.

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Legal Problems on RIM’s Recent Combat on Trademark Infringement in China, II

III. The differences between the act of refurnishing mobile phones and crime of counterfeiting registered trademarks

The crime of counterfeiting registered trademark specified in the Article 213 of the Criminal Law ( the “Article 213”) refers to whoever, without permission from the owner of a registered trademark, uses a trademark which is identical with the registered trademark on the same kind of commodities shall, if the circumstances are serious, be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of no more than three years or criminal detention and shall also, or shall only, be fined; if the circumstances are especially serious, he shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than three years but not more than seven years and shall also be fined . (the image is the genuine Blackberry and genuine Blackberry)

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A Compromise between Michael Jordan and Qiaodan Sports?

Reportedly (Note this report is in Chinese), Michael Jordan, the star sportsman of NBA, recently made a statement that Qiaodan Sports Co., Ltd. (“Qiaodan Sports”) is suspected of infringement on his right of name, and he had initiated the legal proceeding in the People’s Court of China. And by the late news, the Shanghai Second Intermediate People’s Court has accepted this case. It is reported (Note this report is in Chinese) that the Qiaodan Sports has been approved by the Issuance Examination Committee of Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE) to issue 11.25 million shares collecting RMB 1.06 billion, which would be issued publicly upon the future approval of China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC). (the image above is the trademark information retrieved from the trademark office of PRC)

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Why Shenzhen Proview Will Not Be Bankrupt Immediately?

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According to the report from the Beijing News (note: the link is in Chinese), Shenzhen Proview, the company battling against Apple in the iPad trademark dispute has been applied for bankruptcy clearance by its debtor Taiwan Fubon Insurance (Fubon), who first applied for the bankruptcy to Shenzhen Intermediate Court in June of 2011 and sent the written notice to urge the acceptation on 20th February, 2012.

According to the Enterprise Bankruptcy Law, “where an enterprise legal person fails to pay off its debts, and that if its assets are not enough to pay off all the debts or if it is obviously incapable of paying off its debts, its debts shall be liquidated in accordance with the provisions of the present Law.” That is to say the bankruptcy could only be applicable when the company’s assets are not enough to pay off its debts or it’s obviously incapable to pay off its debts. In the case, it’s arguable to say Shenzhen Proview is under such situations. For one hand, Fubon claims Shenzhen Proview has not made the payment on its debt and seems to be incapable to make the payment, while on the other hand, Shenzhen Proview disclaimed the accusation and insisted the iPad trademark is valuable enough to clear all the debt once it could be realized, and therefore it shall not be liquidated under the bankruptcy procedure.

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Where Apple’s Confidence Comes from in iPad Trademark Dispute?

For the battle between Apple and Proview, we think the only way to guarantee the mutual benefit is the conciliation, in which Apple could continuously use the iPad trademark and Proview could gain the transfer fee thereby, otherwise it will leave nothing for the creditors of Proview while Apple still holds its leeway.(the image today is the showcase of a Apple retailer in Shanghai)

On the evening of 14th February, Apple pulled iPad from Amazon China and halted its stop. Also Apple stated that “We bought Proview’s worldwide rights to the iPad trademark in 10 different countries several years ago. Proview refuses to honor their agreement with Apple in China”. All these show that Apple determines to hold its hard line in the battle over the iPad name, and even may stop the sale of the device. Then why shall Apple be so hard? The reasons may be the follows:

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iPad Trademark Dispute: Amazon China Stops Selling iPad on Demand of Apple

As reported by Sina Tech, Amazon China (NASDAQ: AMZN) and Suning (SZSE: 002024), one of the major home appliance retailers in China, withdrew Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL)’s iPad and stop the sale of the device from 14th February night. By relative officers from Amazon’s statement, the withdrawal is on the notice of Apple and also it’s the adjustment on its sales strategy. Meanwhile, Apple has not made any comments on the issue for whether it has any connection with iPad trademark dispute; also Apple’s staffs refuse to reply too.(as shows in the picture above, only MOTO and SAMSUNG product are searched when typing in iPad on Amazon China)

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When Could Come the Decision of the 2nd Instance on the iPad Trademark Dispute？

As interviewed by China media Shanghai Business, when could come the decision of the 2nd instance on the iPad dispute, which hearing will be held on 29th February, 2012, Mr. You Yunting replied as follows:

For the court is less likely to make the decision on the coming hearing on the case, we estimate no such decision could be made till the expiration of the lawsuit time limit. By PRC Civil Litigation Law, the hearing on the appealed case shall be decided within 3 months from the filing day of the 2nd instance. For any prolonged on the procedure, it shall be approved by the chief judge of the court. Therefore, we estimate the case could be decided 2 months after the hearing for it could be filed 1 month before the proceeding, and the specific date of the decision may be the end of April.

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Once Apple Lost iPad Trademark: Would There be A Name Change on iPad3 in China?

For the claimed iPad trademark infringement, as media reported, the Industry and Commerce Administration of Shijiazhuang City, Hubei Province of China, detained more than 40 iPads on the report of Proview, the registered owner of iPad trademark. For this issue, Mr. You Yunting was interviewed by Donews, a tech website in China, and the following is the details of the interview: (the image above is Proview’s Certificate of Trademark issued by Chinese government )

1. When the infringement of Apple is judged established, could anyone bought iPad choose to return the device to Apple?

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Before 2nd Instance of iPad Trademark Dispute: iPad was Withdrew in Some Cities by Local Chinese Government

After losing the lawsuit in the trademark transfer dispute against Proview in the 1st instance, Apple will attend the hearing of the 2nd instance on 29th, Feburary, 2012. However, just before the hearing, on the complaint of Proview, the administration of Industry & Commerce has started the investigation on trademark dispute, and on 13th February, the administration in Shijiiazhuang City detained 41 iPad devices and ordered for stop iPad’s sales.(the link is in Chinese)

On the issue, Mr. You Yunting, the founder of our website was interviewed by medias, which details are as follows:

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Fang Zhouzi V.S. Han Han & Chinese Legal System on Reputation Infringement

The most notably and widely discussed issue around this Chinese New Year, to Bridge IP Law Commentary’s opinion, is probably not the traditional spring festival variety show on CCTV, but the argument between Fang Zhouzi, a self-claimed anti-fraud cop or myth buster, and Han Han, an acclaimed writer in China. The flame battle started from a blog by Mai Tian, a better-known blogger, doubting many works of Han Han are actually written by his father or other unnamed writer while published in his name. Despite it ends in Mai Tian’s apology and admission of mistake, the issue opens the Pandora’s box of doubts on Han Han. Afterwards, Fang Zhouzi took the relay baton, who was counter-backed by Han Han and his father, and moreover Han Han showed his original manuscript for proving. After days of online words war, Han Han filed the lawsuit for the reputation infringement and claimed the compensation of 100, 000 yuan.

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