Yangzi Evening News/Ziniu News reporter Wan Chengyuan
In the summer of 2021, the "Olympic masks" worn by the Chinese sports delegation at the Tokyo Olympics amazed the entire Internet as soon as they were unveiled, but soon counterfeit products also attracted widespread attention.
A reporter from the Yangzi Evening News learned that the Qidong City People's Court recently heard a case of claims caused by the sale of counterfeit "Olympic masks" by an online store.
The court finally did not support the buyer's triple punitive damages claim in its judgment. What is the reason?
Bright red and yellow colors, Chinese-style five-pointed star patterns, plus elements of the national flag and the Olympic rings... Last summer, the masks worn by Chinese Olympic athletes when they competed in the Tokyo Olympics were widely praised and sought after by netizens.
But soon, mask products with a very similar appearance to this "Olympic mask" appeared in some online stores.
On August 6, 2021, Wang purchased 3,000 "Olympic masks" marked "Olympic China Red Disposable Mask Adult Three-layer Protective Independent Packaging" in the online store, and spent 1,500 yuan.
After he received the masks purchased online, he opened the box and videotaped and took pictures.
He found that this batch of masks had neither the manufacturer, production date, shelf life, etc., nor the implementation standard (certificate of conformity).
Wang also learned that at the end of July 2021, the official Weibo of Beijing Penglai Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. issued a statement emphasizing that the "Olympic masks" sold online are all fake and shoddy products, and the "Olympic masks" of the Chinese sports delegation for the Tokyo Olympics are only donated to Tokyo It is used by the Chinese sports delegation of the Olympic Games and is not sold on the online platform.
Wang believes that the mask he bought is a fake product and the online store still sells it, which is a fraudulent consumer behavior.
Therefore, he filed a lawsuit with the Qidong City People's Court, requesting an order to terminate the sales contract between himself and the online store, refund the purchase price of 1,500 yuan and pay three times the compensation.
The judge introduced that Wang purchased the masks involved in the case in the online store, and the two parties established an information network sales contract. A focus of controversy in this case is whether the masks involved are "three no products".
Regarding this issue, the court held that in Wang's unboxing video, it could be seen that the product involved did not have a product certificate, nor did it indicate product information.
Combined with the statement of Beijing Penglai Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., the masks involved should be three-no products.
According to reports, Wang has reported to the local market supervision and management department through 12315 for the sale of three-null products in the online store, and the Qidong Court has also transferred the clues of the case to the local market supervision and management department for processing.
The reporter learned that another focus of controversy in the case was whether the online shop's behavior constituted fraud and whether it should pay triple the compensation.
In this regard, the court held that, as far as general rational consumers are concerned, factors such as the selling price and product performance of similar products at different merchants or different trading platforms are generally considered before online shopping, and they should have a basic understanding and rationality of the products involved in the case they purchase. know.
In this case, Wang Mouruo purchased 3,000 masks at a price of 1,500 yuan only by using the national flag and the logo of the Olympic Organizing Committee. Considering the epidemic situation at that time, the quantity and method of purchase were obviously different from those of ordinary consumers.
The court also found out that Wang sued a number of cases of disputes over information network sales contracts, all of which sued the merchants on the grounds that the products purchased in the online store were three-no-products and false propaganda, claiming that one refund should be paid for three or one refund should be compensated for ten.
Based on this, the court held that Wang should have a higher cognitive ability than ordinary consumers on the issue of illegal product labeling, and his intention to make a claim was obvious, which violated the principle of good faith in the civil law. Therefore, it can be determined that the illegal behavior of the online store's labeling is not enough to cause Wang to be in the wrong place. Misconceptions arose when purchasing the masks involved.
In summary, the Qidong Court determined that the online shop's violation of the laws and regulations on the masks involved in the case was not sufficient to constitute fraud, and did not support Wang's claim for punitive damages.
Regarding Wang's claim for rescinding the contract and returning the payment for the goods, the court supported it in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Civil Code.
Regarding the legal issues involved in this case, the lawyer told reporters that even if the court ruled in the relevant case that the seller of counterfeit "Olympic masks" does not need to pay three times the compensation to the purchaser, it is still suspected of many other illegal acts.
As far as the five-ring pattern is used on most counterfeit "Olympic masks", the rights holder of the Olympic five-ring logo is the International Olympic Committee, and the Olympic logo is used in commodities, commodity packaging or containers, and commodity trading instruments without permission. The above is a typical use behavior and is prohibited by the regulations.
The lawyer also said that if the online store used photos of athletes during competitions or receiving awards when selling fake "Olympic masks", it was suspected of infringing on the athletes' portrait rights and the copyrights of news organizations or photographers, and they should be responsible for stopping the infringement and compensation for losses according to law. and other civil liability.