The three companies of the Internet celebrity sparkling water on "Pong" and "Yuanqi Forest" were sentenced to 300,000 by Nanjing court
Yuanqi Forest's "気" soda sparkling water has been vigorously promoted by its company and has become an "Internet celebrity" product. However, the company found that another sparkling water sold by an online store was very similar to its packaging, with a "near famous brand" product. suspected.
After trial, the court found that the packaging and decoration of the alleged infringing sparkling water products constituted unfair competition, and the three companies involved in the case were sentenced to compensate 300,000 yuan for economic losses.
This is a typical case of intellectual property protection that a reporter from the Yangtze Evening News Ziniu learned at a press conference held at the Jiangning District People's Court in Nanjing on April 22.
Yangzi Evening News/Ziniu News reporter Wan Chengyuan
The "Yuanqi Forest" series of brands has gained a high reputation through a large amount of advertising investment by Yuanqi Forest (Beijing) Food Technology Group Co., Ltd. and has become an "Internet celebrity" drink.
The packaging and decoration of the “Wake” soda sparkling water involved in the case of the defendant Nanjing Food Co., Ltd. sold on the online shopping platform is similar to the “気” soda sparkling water of Yuanqi Forest in terms of bottle design, font color, graphic arrangement and overall style. .
The entrusting agent displayed on the packaging of the "Wake up" soda sparkling water product is the defendant, a Fujian Food Technology Co., Ltd., and the entrusted party is the defendant, a food company in Fuyang City.
The word "Wang Baoji" printed on the side of the bottle is a registered trademark, and the registrant is the defendant, an Anhui Food Co., Ltd.
The soda sparkling water sold by a food company in Nanjing, the defendant, was purchased from a food company in Fuyang, the defendant.
Yuanqi Company requested the defendant to stop the production and sale of the above-mentioned "wake up" sparkling water with similar packaging and decoration to its "気" sparkling water, and compensate him for economic losses of 560,000 yuan.
After hearing, the Jiangning Court held that the packaging and decoration of the products involved in the Yuanqi Company's case had certain influence, and ordinary consumers were easily confused about the source of the "Wake up" soda sparkling water, so they chose this product because of the relevant factors of the Yuanqi Company, or used the product. Consumers' perception of the source of "気" soda sparkling water is deviated.
The packaging and decoration of the alleged infringing "Wake" soda sparkling water products constituted unfair competition, disrupted the market competition order, and damaged the legitimate business rights and interests of the plaintiff, Yuanqi Company.
The allegedly infringing "Wake up" sparkling water sold by a Nanjing Food Co., Ltd. has a legitimate source and is not liable for compensation.
Accordingly, the court ruled that the four defendants should immediately stop the unfair competition of producing and selling products with the same or similar packaging and decoration as the plaintiff's "気" soda sparkling water. An Anhui Food Co., Ltd. compensated the plaintiff for economic losses of 300,000 yuan.
The reporter learned that the "White Paper on Trial of Intellectual Property Cases" released by the Jiangning Court on April 22 shows that from November 2019 to the end of 2021, the court has newly received 1,786 intellectual property civil cases and concluded 1,412.
Among them, there were 373 trademark disputes, 517 copyright disputes, 848 franchise contract disputes, 48 unfair competition disputes, and 14 other intellectual property cases.
During the same period, 34 new intellectual property criminal cases were received.