When we mention "Intime", our first reaction is the department store. The full name of what we usually call "Intime Department Store" is actually Zhejiang Intime Department Store Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Zhejiang Intime Department Store).

In the urban area of ??Huzhou, there is a Huzhou Yintai Commercial Building (hereinafter referred to as Huzhou Yintai). Local people are accustomed to calling it "Yintai Commercial Building" and it is one of the landmarks of the urban area of ??Huzhou.

This Yintai is not that Yintai. So, who is the real "Yintai"?

Zhejiang Yintai believes that Huzhou Yintai is "similar to famous brands", while Huzhou Yintai said that "we are obviously a 'time-honored brand'". The two companies went to court over this, and the lawsuits were fought one after another. Recently, the Zhejiang Provincial High Court held the second instance hearing on the case of Zhejiang Yintai suing Huzhou Yintai for trademark infringement and unfair competition.

First instance judgment

In the first instance, the Huzhou Intermediate People’s Court held that Huzhou Yintai’s use of logos such as “Yintai” has the function of displaying the mall’s service brand to the public and is a way to identify the source of services. The behavior is a trademark use, and the main Chinese identification part of the two logos is "Yintai", so they are similar. Therefore, it is determined that Huzhou Yintai has infringed on Zhejiang Yintai's registered trademark exclusive rights. However, comprehensive consideration of history, reality, fair competition, etc. element, the use of the "Yintai" brand name does not constitute unfair competition.

According to this, the Huzhou Intermediate People’s Court ruled in the first instance that Huzhou Yintai immediately stopped prominently using the logo containing the word "Yintai" at its business premises located at No. 55 Hongqi Road, Wuxing District, Huzhou, and compensated Zhejiang Yintai 1 million yuan.

After the first-instance verdict, Zhejiang Yintai and Huzhou Yintai were both dissatisfied and appealed to the Zhejiang Provincial High Court.

Zhejiang Yintai believes that Huzhou Yintai’s prominent use of the “Yintai” brand name constitutes trademark infringement; and the act of registering and using the full name of the company constitutes unfair competition. However, the court of first instance held that the former reason was established and constituted trademark infringement; the latter reason was not established and it did not find unfair competition and did not order the defendant to stop using the full name of the company. In response to this point, Zhejiang Yintai argued in its appeal that its registered trademark of "Yintai Department Store and Pictures" was well before the defendant established the company name with the word "Yintai", and the court should protect the prior rights. Huzhou Yintai has known about the existence of Zhejiang Yintai for a long time. Instead of reasonable avoidance, it still retains the word "Yintai", which is a malicious infringement and obvious intentional clinging. Therefore, in the appeal, Zhejiang Yintai requested Huzhou Yintai to immediately stop using "Yintai" or change its name.

Huzhou Yintai believes that Zhejiang Yintai’s so-called “trademark use” cannot be established, does not constitute trademark infringement, and should not be compensated. Because judging from the content of the trademark involved, Zhejiang Yintai's trademark is a combination of text and graphics for "Yintai Department Store". Only the word "Yintai" is extracted and compared with the "Yintai Commercial Building" and "Yintai Commercial Building" used by Huzhou Yintai. , obviously do not constitute the same or similar, and Huzhou Yintai does not prominently use the word "Yintai" in different fonts, colors, etc., so there is no issue of "trademark use". In addition, Huzhou Yintai also believes that from a historical perspective, Zhejiang Yintai obtained the trademark license for "Yintai Department Store and Pictures" from Sanjiang Company in 2009, but Huzhou Yintai Commercial Building was established in 2002. At that time, the "Yintai Department Store" trademark There is no influence or popularity in Huzhou, so there is no clinging behavior, and there is no problem of trademark infringement by the company name.

Currently, the second instance of this case is still under further review