China News Service, Beijing, August 11 (Wang Qingkai, Wang Xiwei) The grievances between Zhang Liang and "Zhang Liang Mala Tang" were turned over again, and they were also searched on Sina Weibo.
Recently, a netizen commented on Zhang Liang's Weibo, "The Mala Tang in your house (Zhang Liang Mala Tang) is too low", "It's really a black business." Zhang Liang replied: "Go eat Yang Guofu."
Yang Guofu Mala Tang then posted on Weibo, inviting Zhang Liang to be the corporate spokesperson.
This coming and going not only made Zhang Liang a hot search, but also advertised for Yang Guofu Mala Tang. The saddest reminder is that Zhang Liang is hot and spicy, and he has become a "black-hearted merchant" among netizens.
Zhang Liang Malatang replied that the netizen's statement was inaccurate and that the "addition of sesame sauce" was limited to the takeaway platform, and the self-service counters in the stores were free. At the same time, he has no right to interfere with who "Yang Guofu Mala Tang" invites to speak.
Many people who eat melon may not know that Zhang Liang Mala Tang has nothing to do with actor Zhang Liang. If you have to talk about the relationship, it is that Zhang Liang once took Zhang Liang's malatang to court.
In 2015, Zhang Liang discovered that pictures of Zhang Liang and his son were used on the inner wall of the dining window of the "Zhang Liang Mala Tang" in the cafeteria of the Inner Mongolia University of Finance and Economics. Zhang Liang took the canteen company and Zhang Liang Mala Tang to court.
However, after the court's investigation and trial, the canteen malatang has nothing to do with Zhang Liang's malatang company and belongs to "Li Gui" Zhang Liang's malatang. Therefore, the court did not award compensation from Zhang Liang's malatang company, only the canteen company.
More interestingly, Zhang Liang, the founder of "Zhang Liang Mala Tang", and Yang Guofu, the founder of "Yang Guofu Mala Tang", are still relatives. Zhang Liang, the founder of "Zhang Liang Mala Tang", once said that Yang Guofu is the cousin of his aunt's family, and there is no blood relationship between the two.
Public information shows that Zhang Liang Mala Tang has 23 branches across the country and more than 5,000 chain stores worldwide. And Yang Guofu Mala Tang is not weak. It is not only one of the "Top 100 Fast Food Companies in China", but also has more than 5,500 franchise stores in 5 overseas countries and 23 provinces in mainland China.
The matter is not over here, sharp-eyed netizens follow the clues and speculate that this may be a commercial marketing jointly conducted by Yang Guofu Malatang and Zhang Liang.
If you sit on this inference. This "melon" can be big, and the entertainment incident may also rise to a legal dispute.
Zhang Liang's Mala Tang may interfere
"If this happened by accident, there would be no infringement by either party." Li Tao, the Intellectual Property Research Center of the School of Law of Central University of Finance and Economics, told a reporter from China News Service, but if it was Zhang Liang and Yang Guofu Malatang based After communicating privately, carrying out a kind of "pull marketing" and looking for netizens as support, then unfair competition may be involved. Because in the process, they devalued Zhang Liang's Mala Tang reputation.
Accordingly, in addition to Zhang Liang’s tort liability, Yang Guofu Mala Tang is also suspected of violating the relevant provisions of the Anti-Unfair Competition Law.
Article 11 of the "Anti-Unfair Competition Law" stipulates that business operators must not fabricate or spread false or misleading information to damage competitors' business reputation and product reputation.
Chang Sha, a lawyer at Beijing Jingdu Law Firm, further told the China News Agency Guoshi Express reporter that if Yang Guofu and Zhang Liang agreed in advance through this kind of "consignment" behavior, to give a bad review of Yang Guofu's competitor Zhang Liang Malatang. Propaganda, dissemination, and marketing are indeed likely to constitute the "misleading information" stipulated in this article. Yang Guofu may be suspected of unfair competition.
Can Zhang Liang and Yang Guofu Mala Tang work further together? The answer is yes.
As an artist, Zhang Liang has the right to use his stage name in the process of cooperation with Yang Guofu in accordance with the relevant regulations on name rights. The artist Zhang Liang cannot be used as an identifying mark of Zhang Liang's Mala Tang, and his name does not constitute an infringement of Zhang Liang's Mala Tang trademark. Therefore, the cooperation between Zhang Liang and Yang Guofu Mala Tang will not cause trademark infringement.
However, industry insiders pointed out that if Zhang Liang really accepts Yang Guofu’s endorsement invitation, his stage name Zhang Liang and Zhang Liang Mala Tang may still confuse consumers’ perceptions, and Zhang Liang Mala Tang already has a certain reputation, so Once in terms of subsequent packaging and decoration, Yang Guofu Mala Tang and Zhang Liang Mala Tang constituted mixed publicity due to Zhang Liang’s endorsement, Yang Guofu Mala Tang is at risk of unfair competition that binds Zhang Liang Mala Tang.
In this regard, the "Anti-Unfair Competition Law" also has relevant provisions. Its Article 6 stipulates the types of “unfair competition with the goodwill of others” involved in the question, mainly including unauthorized use of similar trademarks, logos, business names, trade names, names, etc., but it must be determined to constitute this The acts of unfair competition stipulated in the article need to reach the level of "causing people to mistake people for goods or having specific connections with others".
Chang Sha believes that it is necessary to judge whether Yang Guofu, who is similar to Zhang Liang's Mala Tang, with Zhang Liang's stage name as endorsement and advertising, constitutes unfair competition against the goodwill of others, or it needs to look at the advertisement between the brand and the artist Planning and advertising products should be judged in detail, and infringement cannot be generalized. However, netizens are well-founded for their worries about infringements caused by advertisements and packaging that are too "excessive".
On the whole, Chang Sha believes that if this incident is a carefully planned propaganda, it may constitute unfair competition by demeaning the reputation of the opponent. If Zhang Liang succeeds in "holding hands" with Yang Guofu Mala Tang, he will also need to pay attention to the distinction between Zhang Liang and Zhang Liang Mala Tang in subsequent publicity to avoid unfair competition. (Finish)