The honeysuckle trademark case, which was sued for tens of millions of yuan due to the production of "honeysuckle" toilet water, is expected to usher in a turning point recently.

The Paper (www.thepaper.cn) learned from authoritative sources that on March 24, the Supreme People's Court ruled that the "Honeysuckle" trademark case applied for retrial by Jiangsu Suzhou Shiyan Biological Daily Chemical Co., Ltd. , the execution of the original judgment shall be suspended during the retrial period.

　　Previously, Shiyan Company was sued by Shanghai Bili Cosmetics Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Bili Company), the owner of the "Honeysuckle" trademark, to the court for trademark infringement, and was awarded 120,000 yuan in compensation in the second instance of the Jiangsu High Court.

　　According to previous reports from The Paper, hundreds of toilet water companies across the country were sued by Bili Company for the production of "honeysuckle" toilet water, with a total claim amount of tens of millions of yuan.

At the same time, during the litigation process, Jiangsu Shiyan Company learned from the archives that Bili Company's "Honeysuckle" trademark was cancelled by the State Trademark Office as early as 1995 due to "improper registration".

　　The "protected" honeysuckle trademark

　　According to the Jiangsu Higher People's Court, the trademark "Honeysuckle" involved in the case is No. 603857, which was applied for registration by Shanghai Hongxing Daily Chemicals Factory on July 30, 1992. Body lotion, perfume, talcum powder, beauty cream.

Subsequently, the trademark was transferred twice, on April 28, 1999, to Shanghai Caidie Cosmetics Co., Ltd., and on July 20, 2009, to Bili Company.

　　Bili Company was established in 1995 with a registered capital of 1.333 million yuan. Its business scope is: daily cosmetics, fog-removing spirits, washing and cleaning spirits, etc.

On December 28, 2018 and March 19, 2019, Bili opened stores on Taobao and Jingdong respectively, selling toilet water with the trademark "Honeysuckle".

Earlier evidence of the use of the "Honeysuckle" trademark is the introduction of the "Honeysuckle" trademark in the "Grand View of Chinese and Foreign Advertising Punch" published in 1994 and "The Encyclopedia of Chinese Practical Phrases" published in 1999.

　　Bili Company believed that the Qingrun brand "Honeysuckle Flower Dew Water" produced by Shiyan Company infringed its trademark rights, so it petitioned to stop the infringement and compensated 200,000 yuan.

　　Like many companies sued before, Shiyan Company believes that it does not infringe at all. The reasons include, first of all, "Honeysuckle", as a traditional Chinese medicine plant, directly represents the raw material of toilet water products, and itself cannot be registered as a trademark.

As a trademark, it also lacks distinctiveness. Because it has not been effectively and extensively used, it has the distinctiveness that distinguishes the source of the commodity, so it should not be protected.

"Bili Company occasionally used the trademark involved 20 years ago, and its popularity cannot naturally continue to this day. It opened stores on e-commerce platforms around 2019 to deal with lawsuits." Shiyan Company believes.

According to public data, Bili has officially started mass trademark infringement lawsuits in 2019.

　　Secondly, toilet water manufacturers themselves have their own brands and trademarks. They mark "Honeysuckle toilet water" on the product bottle to remind consumers that this is the addition of honeysuckle, a traditional Chinese medicine plant with the functions of "clearing heat and detoxification, preventing prickly heat and removing prickly heat". Toilet water is for the convenience of consumers to choose and does not belong to trademark use.

All major toilet water manufacturers in the country use "Honeysuckle toilet water" as a common product name, which is a convention and does not specifically refer to Bili Company.

"Could it be that only Bili Company can produce 'Honeysuckle Flower Dew Water'?"

　　The above-mentioned representative defense views of Shiyan Company were not supported by the court.

In the first instance, the Suzhou Intermediate People's Court of Jiangsu ruled that Shiyan Company constituted infringement and compensated Bili Company 100,000 yuan.

Both parties refused to accept the appeal. In the second instance, the Jiangsu Higher Court upheld the infringement determination and ruled that Shiyan Company should compensate Bili Company 120,000 yuan.

　　Shiyan Company refused to accept it and filed a retrial with the Supreme People's Court. The Supreme People's Court accepted the case on July 15, 2021, and issued a ruling on March 24, 2022: 1. The decision was made because "the original judgment was indeed wrong in the application of the law" 2. During the retrial period, the execution of the original judgment shall be suspended.

　　Hundreds of companies across the country have been sued for tens of millions of claims

　　Peng Mei News found that Bili Company filed a lawsuit against Shiyan Company’s two honeysuckle toilet water in different packaging.

The above-mentioned Supreme Court arraigned the honeysuckle toilet water in a plastic bottle from Shiyan Company. In addition, there is another case against the honeysuckle toilet water in glass bottles from Shiyan Company. The case was sentenced to compensation of 35,000 yuan in the first instance. It is currently in the second instance trial of the Jiangsu High Court. middle.

　　According to the previous review of The Paper, more than 100 toilet water manufacturers across the country, including 60 companies from the Jiangxi Health and Disinfection Products Industry Association, have been brought by Bili Company for trademark infringement lawsuits.

And almost all the cases that have been sentenced ended in the defendant losing the case and paying compensation.

Jiangxi enterprises were sued for compensation amounting to 12 million yuan.

　　Relevant data shows that as of January 13, 2022, Bili has 123 court announcements and 79 legal lawsuits across the country, all of which are trademark infringement disputes.

In addition, some lawyers have counted 111 judgment documents in which Bili Company is the plaintiff. "It is estimated that Bili Company has claimed more than 10 million yuan in hundreds of lawsuits."

　　Several lawyers representing the defendants in the honeysuckle trademark case told The Paper that it was difficult for them to comprehend the verdicts in which there were almost no exceptions. , that is to say, no matter how you use 'honeysuckle', it is infringing, what is the limit of the use of the word 'honeysuckle'? The judgment should not be a follow-up style."

　　Several lawyers said there was no evidence that the "Honeysuckle" trademark was actually used commercially in the 25 years from 1993 to 2018.

According to industrial and commercial data, the registered capital of Bili Company was 1.3333 million yuan, and the paid-in capital was only 79,998 yuan. In 2016, the plaintiff Bili Company’s net assets and profits were negative, and its profitability was extremely low.

On January 16, 2022, a lawyer found that the original registered address of Bili Company, No. 701, Xingcun Road, Chongming District, Shanghai, was empty, dilapidated, and had no production capacity at all.

The surrounding residents all said that Bili Company moved away from the production address for 3 years.

　　Peng Mei News noticed that as of March 24, Bili Company was still filing trademark infringement lawsuits against toilet water companies across the country.

Local courts have scheduled their trademark lawsuits until April 26 at the latest.

　　Peng Mei News noticed that the lawyer representing the defendant mentioned in his response that during the two sessions this year, the work report of the Supreme People's Court clearly pointed out that "green pepper" and other "porcelain-touching rights protection" are not protected, and the relevant claims were rejected. Fang hopes that the court will handle the "Honeysuckle" case in the same way.

　　"Honeysuckle" trademark has been revoked by announcement

　　In addition to the doubts about Bili Company's "touching porcelain-style rights protection", the issue of the rights of its "Honeysuckle" trademark itself has also become the biggest doubt in the case.

　　The official website of the State Intellectual Property Office announced that the "Honeysuckle" trademark was revoked by the State Trademark Office in 1995.

　　According to the files obtained by Shiyan Company through the court in the course of responding to the lawsuit, in 1994, the Trademark Review and Adjudication Board of the State Administration for Industry and Commerce revoked the No. 603857 honeysuckle trademark on the grounds of “improper registration”.

"Honeysuckle" Trademark Improper Registration Judgment ((1994) Shang Ping Zi No. 15) shows that the reason for the revocation of the trademark was repeatedly mentioned by the accused enterprise later - honeysuckle, as a traditional Chinese medicine plant, directly Indicates the main raw material of the goods, which violates the Trademark Law.

　　Since it was revoked in 1994, why was the trademark transferred twice in 1999 and 2009?

Has the rights to the trademark been reinstated?

How did Bili Company acquire the trademark and file a large number of infringement lawsuits?

　　From the public information, it is impossible to find out that the trademark has been legally restored after being revoked.

In this regard, many defendant companies are confused.

"It's like a person who was sentenced to death and shot, but came back to life after a few years, and caused trouble again," said a person in charge of an enterprise in Jiangsu.

　　Lawyer Dai Jiapeng, an insider in the intellectual property industry, published an article saying that the "resurrection" of the honeysuckle trademark "is like a few years after Sun Xiaoguo of Kunming was sentenced to death and ran rampant in the arena. This serious flaw in rights may lead to this case. complete reversal.”

　　Peng Mei News learned that the Secretary-General of Jiangxi Health and Disinfection Products Industry Association Wu Standing Committee applied to the State Intellectual Property Office for information disclosure on February 18, 2022, requesting answers to the above-mentioned related questions.

The Government Information Disclosure Office of the State Intellectual Property Office replied on March 17, 2022 that the agency would postpone the reply for no more than 20 working days.

　　Previously, an attorney also filed a similar information disclosure with the State Intellectual Property Office, requesting to disclose the full text of the (1994) Shang Ping Zi No. 15 "Honeysuckle" trademark misregistration ruling. public".

　　On March 25, The Paper called Song Yong, the legal representative of Bili Company. After the reporter revealed his identity, Song Yong hung up the phone.

　　The Paper reporter Tan Jun