FILA won a trademark infringement /anti-unfair competition lawsuit against Zhejiang Zhongyuan, RuianZhongyuan and other two defendants through the decision of Xicheng （Note: an urban district in Beijing） People’s Court. The Court ordered Zhejiang Zhongyuan and RuianZhongyuan to indemnify 8.32 million yuan in total for infringement while demanding JD.com, a major shopping portal to delete, quarantine or sever the web links relating to a shop by the name of GFLA.
As the authorized holder of FILA’s trademarks in China, FILA China claimed that GFLA trademarks used by Zhejiang Zhongyuan and RuianZhongyuan were similar to FILA trademarks on goods of shoes in symbols and pronunciations. FILA China believed that the defendants infringed its rights of trademark and enterprisesname, later of which would constitute unfair competition. The four defendants denied the accusation and argued in court.
After comparing “GFLA and image” and No. 163333 “FILA and image”， the Court found that “GFLA and image” was similar to No. 163333 “FILA and image” and No. G691003A“FILA and image” in elements, symbols, pronunciations and meaning. In addition, since the marks and trademarks above were used on the same goods, the defendants’ using “GFLA and image” on their web pages constituted trademark infringement.
The Court also held that using “飛樂（中國）”（Note: Chinese translation of FILA （China）） on shoeboxes constituted trademark infringement for it might cause confusion in public.
Based on the original claim from the plaintiff on the illegal gains of the defendants, financial statements furnished by the defendants, the Court sifted through evidences, found maliciousness of the defendants, eventually awarding triple damages to FILA, 7.91 million yuan on top of another 410,000 yuan of plaintiff’s claim of reasonable expense.
Lawyers of the defendants expressed their intention to appeal to the higher court. CIP News will follow up on the update. （by Jiang Xu）
（Editor Che Xingming）
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