"Muji" Trademark Dispute Between China And Japan, Sentenced!

Recently, the Beijing Higher People's court made a final judgment on the infringement of trademark rights by Muji, ordered the good plan and Shanghai Muji to stop infringing on the exclusive right of registered trademarks of cotton fields and Beijing Muji, and issued a statement at Tmall's "MUJI MUJI official flagship store" and the entity store in mainland China to eliminate the infringement effect and compensate for economic losses of 500 thousand yuan and reasonable expenses of more than 12.6 yuan.

MUJI causes disputes

It is reported that in April 28, 2001, Hainan Nanhua industrial trading company successfully obtained the registered trademark "Muji".

The trademark is approved for use in twenty-fourth categories of commodities, including cotton fabrics; cushion; cushion cover; towel; towel blanket; bath towel; pillow towel; floor towel; bedsheet; pillowcase; quilt; quilt cover.

In 2004, the trademark was transferred to cotton field company. Cotton field company has invested in a company called Beijing Muji company, which was founded in 2011.

Japanese Muji shop sells bath towel, face towel, quilt cover, pillowcase, Terry blanket, bathroom mat and so on, all of which are printed with Muji, but the "Muji" brand of these products is in cotton field company and Beijing Muji.

In 2015, the two companies reported the Japanese Muji, using the above "Muji" trademark.

The court found that the defendant used the "Muji", "MUJI Muji" and "Muji" MUJI logo, which were similar to the trademarks involved in the bathing napkins, face towels, bathroom mats, and other goods and merchandise on the accuser and merchandise promotion, and infringed the plaintiff's exclusive right to register the trademark with regard to the trademark involved.

In the first instance, the defendant immediately stopped the infringement, and issued a statement in Tmall's "MUJI MUJI official flagship store" and the entity store in mainland China to eliminate the impact, compensate the plaintiff for economic losses and 500 thousand yuan and a reasonable expenditure of over 12.6 yuan.

The good plan and Shanghai Muji failed to accept the original trial, and appealed to the Beijing high court, requesting a revocation of the first instance decision, and dismissed the lawsuit filed by the cotton field company and Beijing Muji.

The Beijing high court said that the registered trademark is regionality, and the infringed product infringes upon the exclusive right to use the trademark when it enters the circulation of commodities in China. The producer of the good plan as a manufacturer of the infringing product should bear the corresponding tort liability. The court of second instance ruled against the appeal and upheld the original judgment.

The search found that Japanese Muji has made a statement in Tmall's "MUJI MUJI official flagship store".

Expert advice: reasonable layout to avoid risks

According to analysis, Japan's Muji has not been able to plan its trademark registration ahead of schedule before entering the Chinese market, leading to the first registration of China's "Muji" trademark.

Japan's MUJI products should start a comprehensive investigation of the registration of the core trademarks in the Chinese market at the very beginning, and make corresponding responses according to the actual situation.

In this regard, Wang Taiping, a professor and doctoral tutor of Guangdong University of Foreign Studies law school, suggested that enterprises should pre - and reasonably conduct trademark layout before launching production and operation. They should register trademarks as far as possible on goods or service categories related to goods or service categories produced by enterprises, so as to prevent other enterprises from taking advantage of beforehand.