Trademark Infringement: The Answer Comes After 4 Years Of Unauthorized Sale Of Fendi

Recently, the case of unfair competition of trademark infringement between Fendi and Shanghai Yilang International Trade Co., Ltd. and shouchuang outlets Commercial Development Co., Ltd. has finally come to an end.

The case originated from the grand opening of outlets mall in Kunshan in September 2015, and the company leased 9 stores to Yilang company. Yilang uses these 9 stores to start selling Fendi, Loewe and other luxury brands. Fendi's agent bought Fendi's wallet twice in the Fendi store operated by Yilang company, the first outlets shopping mall in Kunshan, and then found the Fendi store information on the mall's public account.

Fendi thinks that Yilang's use and the initiative of outlets infringe on its trademark rights. The actions of the two companies will cause consumers to misunderstand that the store is a direct store or brand discount store of Fendi company, so it demands compensation of 1 million yuan from the two companies.

In the first instance, the court ruled that the behavior of Yilang company and shouchuang outlets was the normal use of Fendi trademark, which was convenient for consumers to shop in large shopping malls, without causing confusion and misunderstanding, and belonged to reasonable use.

Fendi refused to accept the trial results and appealed again.

In the second instance, Fendi put forward new opinions. The company's agent said that whether it is a luxury fashion brand or a sports and leisure brand, usually only the trademark owner's Direct stores and authorized stores will use the trademark of the goods sold on the shop sign. Luxury goods are different from ordinary goods. The service and after-sales service that consumers enjoy when shopping are an indispensable part of luxury consumption.

Fendi believes that the goods sold by Yilang company are "parallel imports", so we should not use "Fendi" as the front door to mislead consumers, but should take Yilang's own trade name as the front door.

In order to prove the reliability of their views, the company's agents also interviewed 42 consumers in the first outlets Plaza. 60% of the consumers thought that the stores operated by Yilang company were related to Fendi brand, and 66.7% of the consumers did not see the "East domain" logo.

However, it also pointed out that what the shop did was to tell consumers that the operator of the shop involved was Fendi. To some extent, this constitutes confusion of public cognition and unfair competition.

The court of second instance ruled that Yilong company should compensate 350000 yuan and shouchuang outlets should bear joint and several liability.

After the second trial, Yilang company closed the shop involved.

In March 2021, Shanghai Higher People's court made a final judgment on the infringement case between Fendi yuyilang company and shouchuang outlets: Yilang company and shouchuang outlets will continue to compensate Fendi for economic losses and rights protection expenses of 350000 yuan.

In recent years, more and more foreign luxury brands have won infringement cases in China. Burberry, a British luxury brand, has won a lawsuit against Chinese brand baneberry for infringement. The trial court held that Burberry's trademark and British pattern were well-known in China, so it banned the defendant's baneberry operating company from using Burberry's trademark at the beginning.

Consumers have to worry about the fakes' fake goods consumption events and the "edge ball" incident. But consumers don't stop buying luxury goods.

According to the CCTV financial report, the global personal luxury consumption market transaction volume will drop sharply in 2020, but only China's luxury consumption will rise 48% against the trend. By 2025, China is expected to become a luxury market of global luxury goods. Consumers need to pay more attention to the authenticity of goods.