DEALS
Zhong Lun Won for Viessmann Group a Series of Brand Protection Cases
Zhong Lun Won for Viessmann Group a Series of Brand Protection Cases
Zhong Lun won for Viessmann Group (“Viessmann") a series of cases against Guangdong Vston Company (“Guangdong Vston") concerning brand protection. The cases were initiated in 2017, including the invalidation procedure against registered trademarks, the first instance, second instance and retrial of administrative proceedings against trademark invalidation as well as the first instance, second instance and retrial of unfair competition civil proceedings. In 2021, the Supreme People’s Court and the Guangdong High People’s Court rendered retrial judgments and retrial rulings for the relevant cases respectively, confirming that Viessmann won all the cases of brand protection finally.
From 2017 onwards, Viessmann applied to invalidate “VSTON菲斯顿" “STON菲斯顿" and other trademarks owned by Guangdong Vston. After successfully having the disputed trademarks registered in the core class invalidated by the CNIPA, Zhong Lun went on to represent the client in subsequent administrative proceedings against the trademark invalidation decision at first instance, second instance and retrial. In 2021, the Supreme People’s Court rendered two retrial judgments in Viessmann’s favor, holding that the cited trademarks “VIESSMANN 菲斯曼" and “菲斯曼" were already well-known in China before the filing date of the disputed trademark, and that Guangdong Vston had obvious malice to unduly piggyback on Viessmann’s reputation. The trademarks “VSTON菲斯顿" and “STON菲斯顿" should be declared invalid.
From 2018 onwards, Zhong Lun represented Viessmann to file an unfair competition lawsuit against Guangdong Vston in the Zhongshan Second Primary People’s Court in Guangdong. The court of first instance found for Viessmann, holding that the trade name “Viessmann" enjoys a high reputation in China, which makes Viessmann an enterprise name with certain influence as defined in the Anti-unfair Competition Law. Moreover, the trademark “VIESSMANN" constitutes a well-known trademark. Therefore, the court ordered Guangdong Vston to change its enterprise name and stop using “Vston". Thereafter, Zhong Lun represented the client in the second instance before the Zhongshan Intermediate People’s Court in Guangdong and the retrial proceedings before the Guangdong High People’s Court, which in 2021 entered a retrial ruling confirming the client’s final victory in the case. Zhong Lun also represented the client in applying for enforcement to change the enterprise name of Guangdong Vston.
The final victory of the above cases manifested the comprehensive professional capability of Zhong Lun in handling intricate cases concerning brand protection. The favorable result is of great significance to the protection of the client’s brands in China, and the courts’ support demonstrates China’s firm stand on strengthening the protection of well-known brands and intellectual property.
Zhong Lun partner Bisheng Shi and associate Rukai Mi provided legal services throughout the series of proceedings.