Several rice merchants in Chengdu were convicted of trademark infringement in the first instance, and they have appealed
Can "Songhua River" be registered as a trademark?
Changchun Market Supervision Bureau is responsible for the staff of the trademark registration department: According to the "Trademark Law", except for the geographical names of administrative divisions above the county level, which are not allowed to be used as trademarks, "natural geography is allowed." Because the law has only restrictive regulations on trademark registration, There are no permissive provisions, "you can do anything if the law does not prohibit it, and if there is no provision that you cannot register, you can register."
Is "Songhua River Rice" a generic name?
The court held that the Songhua River was only a river name, not a specific place name, and Xingliangquan Company did not provide evidence to prove that "Songhua River" has been used as a common name for the source of rice nationwide, so "Songhua River" is not related to "Songhua River". Rice" produces a direct correspondence.
"Songhua River rice does not make 'Songhua River' what is it? Am I making Yellow River rice?" The operation department was sued by a company in Changchun, claiming that it used the "Songhuajiang" trademark for infringement.
The court prevailed in the first trial of the company and demanded that the merchants compensate for the losses.
When this happened, everyone was in an uproar.
The sued merchants believe that this is a reappearance of the "Qinghuajiao" case. "The fact that the company 'touches porcelain' in the name of rights protection is a malicious lawsuit." At present, some merchants are not satisfied with the judgment and have appealed.
So, is the rice produced in Songhua River marked with the word "Songhua River" infringing?
litigation
Many merchants are sued for trademark infringement after "Songhua River" is printed on the packaging bag
"Pearl rice is produced in the Songhua River, and Songhua River rice is not written about Songhua River?" Li Qingzhong, the boss of the Xingliangquan Management Department in the Grain and Oil District of Haibawang Market in Pidu District, Chengdu, was very angry.
He told the Chengdu Business Daily-Red Star News reporter that he had been in Chengdu for more than ten years as a wholesaler of rice in Northeast China.
On August 20 last year, he suddenly received a court summons, "saying that I infringed." Li Qingzhong said that the lawsuit made him feel inexplicable.
Later, he learned that it was the "Songhua River" printed on the rice package that had a problem.
According to him, he was not the only one who was sued by the "CP Sangtian (Changchun) Agriculture Co., Ltd." (hereinafter referred to as: CP Sangtian Company) in the market. "As far as I know, there are nearly 50." The reasons for the prosecution are the same, They believed that the "Songhua River" printed on the rice packaging they sold had infringed upon its exclusive right to use its trademark, and demanded compensation for losses.
Li Qingzhong said that "Songhua River" was printed on the packaging bag because the rice sold was produced in the Songhua River, and there was no idea of infringement at the beginning.
"Songhua River rice doesn't beat 'Songhua River', but does it beat Yellow River rice?"
plaintiff
"Songhua River" is prominently used
Has infringed on its registered trademark exclusive rights
The reporter saw from the verdict that during the trial, Chia Tai Sangtian Company submitted 3 trademarks with the words "Songhua River" to the court, and the approved use categories of the trademarks were all rice.
After verification, except one trademark was declared revoked, the other two are still valid.
Zhengda Sangtian Company believes that they have invested a lot of advertising on the "Songhua River" trademark and enjoy a high reputation and reputation in the grain and oil market.
The merchant used the words "Songhua River" prominently on the packaging bag, which infringed on its exclusive right to use its registered trademark.
Therefore, the court is requested to rule that Xingliangquan Company (rice producer) and the operation department of Xingliangquan should compensate for economic losses and reasonable expenses of 140,000 yuan.
In this regard, Xingliangquan Company stated that the "Songhua River" in the rice trademark is a proper place name, and according to the law, it has no right to prohibit others from using it properly.
Songhuajiang rice is a common name. The rice produced and sold by the company is all produced in this area. The labeling of "Songhuajiang" is a reasonable way to highlight the origin of the product, and there is no subjective intention of clinging to the trademark involved in the case.
Moreover, the products they produce have names and manufacturers, which are obviously different from the trademarks held by Chia Tai Sangtian Company. "The font, arrangement, and display methods are completely different." Their rice outer packaging also applied for a design patent in 2016. , and therefore does not cause consumer confusion.
court
"Prominent use" is enough to confuse the public
Awarded 47,000 yuan in damages
The Pidu District People's Court held that in this case, after obtaining the trademark involved in the case, Chia Tai Sangtian Company sold goods online and offline, and its popularity and distinctiveness continued to increase.
On the other hand, Xingliangquan Company prominently used the word "Songhua River" on the front of the packaging bag, the only difference being that it did not use pinyin, which was enough to confuse the public.
Moreover, the three characters of "Xingliangquan" on the package are smaller than the three characters of "Songhua River", which objectively cannot accurately and directly play a role in distinguishing.
Xingliangquan Company claims that "Songhua River rice" is a common name.
The court held that the Songhua River was only a river name, not a specific place name, and the company did not provide evidence to prove that "Songhua River" had been used as a nationally agreed general name to refer to the source of rice, so "Songhua River" was not related to "rice". produce a direct correspondence.
In view of the fact that the first "Songhua River" trademark of Chia Tai Sangtian Company was approved and registered in 1998 and "has a certain market reputation", Xingliangquan Company should take the initiative to avoid this trademark in its business activities.
Even if the place of origin needs to be marked with "Songhua River", the language organization, font, font size, color, location layout, etc. should be adjusted consciously.
The court held that in this case, Xingliangquan Company printed "Songhua River" in a prominent position on the front of the product packaging in a more prominent and more recognizable way than its own trademark. The economic loss of CP Sangtian Company was 47,000 yuan.
After the first-instance verdict, Li Qingzhong said that now everyone sells rice with guilt. "We are afraid when someone comes to buy rice. We are afraid that some word will be registered again, and our hearts tremble." But they still insisted: "Pearl rice is Produced from the Songhua River, we have no problem playing the 'Songhua River'."
They believe that Zhengda Sangtian Company is a replica of the "Qinghuajiao" case. In the name of rights protection, it is a malicious lawsuit to "touch porcelain", "just to eat our money." appeal.
survey
The plaintiff sued more than 40 cases in more than two years
After some defendants compensated, the plaintiff withdrew the lawsuit and settled
The reporter learned from Tianyancha inquiries that Zhengda Sangtian (Changchun) Agriculture Co., Ltd. was established in 2014, and its business scope includes the sales of agricultural products such as vegetables, fruits, aquatic products, grains, and local products.
Between 2020 and 2022, the company has filed more than 40 lawsuits on the grounds of "infringement of trademark rights".
In many judgments learned by the reporter, the amount of compensation required by Chia Tai Sangtian Company is more than 100,000 yuan.
On March 2, the reporter got in touch with Mr. Zhang, the person in charge of Chia Tai Sangtian Company.
Talking about the trademark infringement dispute with Li Qingzhong, Mr. Zhang said that now the first-instance judgment has been made, and everything is subject to the court's judgment.
He told reporters that Chia Tai Sang Tian received the registered trademark involved in the case from Jilin Deda Co., Ltd. in 2016.
The rice sold by the company is all produced in Jilin and Heilongjiang, that is, the Songhua River area.
"We registered at that time, which means that the Trademark Office has already recognized it. If it is invalid, the Trademark Office will cancel it directly." He believes that Li Qingzhong's defense reason is untenable.
He told reporters that at present, the "Songhua River" brand rice of CP Sangtian Company is mainly sold to supermarkets, convenience stores, etc. through the internal channels of the group, and there are also e-commerce platforms.
The brand is only used for rice and not for the sale of other agricultural products.
He also admitted that CP Sangtian had previously sued a number of companies that used "Songhua River" as the name of their rice products. After some of the companies paid compensation, CP Sangtian withdrew the lawsuit and settled.
When it comes to the amount of compensation, Mr. Zhang said that the amount of compensation for each company varies. "I don't want more, just tens of thousands of dollars. I just want to maintain the brand and let them take off the infringing products." He also said that for the trademark Infringement disputes, the company has specialized lawyers to deal with.
statement
Supreme Court: Where are the boundaries of geographical name registration and trademark protection?
Can geographical names be used in trademark information?
How should we regulate usage?
The judge of the Third Civil Division of the Supreme People's Court said so.
Can the place names in the trademark still be used by others?
Mao Lihua, Judge of the Third Division of Civil Trial Division of the Supreme People's Court and Director of the Comprehensive Office: "Some trademarks contain geographical names, and these geographical names often have some commercial value. According to the provisions of our Trademark Law, even if the trademark owner has obtained a registered trademark He also cannot prohibit others from properly using the geographical names in the registered trademark. If others use the geographical names in the registered trademark properly, if the right holder files a lawsuit in the court, the people's court will not support it in accordance with the law.”
The trademark owner has no right to prohibit others from using the geographical name information properly
Taking "Tongguan Roujiamo" as an example, although the association has obtained the exclusive right to the trademark, it does not mean that the association can prohibit all small businesses from using the place name information of "Tongguan" in their signboards.
So, for collective trademarks like Tongguan Roujiamo, can the registrant arbitrarily prohibit or permit others to use the trademark?
Mao Lihua: In the area indicated by the geographical indication, and if he meets the conditions for the use of the geographical indication, he can properly use the geographical indication even if he does not apply to join a collective, association or other organization.
If the conditions for the use of geographical indications are not met, or the geographical scope of the geographical indication is beyond the scope of the geographical indication, the right holder cannot obtain the qualification for the use of the geographical indication (trademark) by means of licensing, affiliation or membership.
At present, the trademark registrant of the relevant geographical indication collects "membership fee" or similar fees through membership, including filing a lawsuit in the court, but the people's court will not support it according to law.
Lawyer: "Songhua River" trademark protection scope should not be too broad
Lawyer Chen Fengfeng, senior partner and deputy director of Sichuan Yingji Law Firm, said that from general geographical knowledge, it can be known that the Songhua River area was originally an administrative division between the provincial and county levels. In March 1996, the Songhua River area Incorporated into Harbin City, the Songhua River area was revoked. In addition, the Songhua River is one of the seven major rivers in my country. Therefore, whether "Songhua River" can be registered as a trademark is relatively controversial.
Chen Fengfeng said that even though "Songhua River" has been registered as a trademark, because the Songhua River was originally a regional administrative division and is one of the seven major rivers in my country, the basin is rich in rice, etc., and the rice produced in the Songhua River basin is between the Songhua River and the Songhua River. There are inseparable geographical connections and geographical characteristics, which make the trademark logo of "Songhua River" and rice from the Songhua River Basin easily confused with each other in terms of common names and other characteristics, that is, the identification of geographical characteristics, and the distinctiveness of the registered trademark should be significantly lower. For general trademarks, the registrant should be fully aware of it when registering the "Songhua River" trademark. Therefore, the trademark determines that its protection scope should not be too wide, otherwise it will hinder the fair use of other market players and affect the market order of fair competition.
Lawyer Zhu Jieping, a founding partner of Taikun Law and a specially invited researcher of the China Society for Policy Science, said that according to the provisions of the Trademark Law, it is justified for Chia Tai Sangtian to file a lawsuit as a trademark owner.
However, the special feature of this case is that "Songhua River" is registered as a trademark as a geographical name. Due to its natural geographical descriptiveness, the review and judgment of marks containing geographical names usually also involves the geographical indication clauses and distinctive clauses in the Trademark Law. , deceptive clauses or even adverse effect clauses, etc., which invisibly increases the difficulty of determining "the place name has other meanings".
Zhu Jieping said, "A geographical name refers to a specific geographical area, and if it is exclusively owned by an individual, it will inevitably affect the public's freedom of expression in using the geographical name. At the same time, if a geographical name is used as a trademark, it obviously cannot play the role of identifying the source of goods and services, unless otherwise stipulated by law. Otherwise, it should not be approved for registration as a trademark.”
Chengdu Commercial Daily-Red Star News reporter Zhang Ling intern reporter Wang Yuchen intern Jin Ruozhen photography Wang Huan Comprehensive CCTV news