If a trademark is preemptively registered, don’t be afraid, don’t panic, and try to find all the evidence to explain the truth.
As for the infringement case of the "Yuhuanghui" trademark, the plaintiff applied for the registered trademark "Yuhuanghui" in 2015, and the preliminary announcement was made in 2016. The approved service categories are beauty salons, Massage, sauna services, sanatorium, etc. However, the defendant first established the Pinghu Yuhuanghui Foot Bath Club in 2012.
The court held that "Yuhuang_" and "Yuhuanghui" have the same pronunciation, and there is a difference between traditional Chinese and simplified Chinese only in the last word. The two constitute similar trademarks. The foot bath shop used by the defendant "Yuhuang_" trademark and the sauna service approved for use by the defendant "Yuhuanghui" registered trademark are similar services.
Therefore, in such a situation, the defendant may have no infringement, but it still needs to be seen whether the right of prior use claimed by the defendant is tenable.
The defendant's operator opened the Pinghu City Yuhuanghui Foot Bath Club as early as 2012. The store uses "Yuhuanghui" as its main identification part. Since both Pinghu and Jiashan clubs are individual industrial and commercial households, their legal personalities highly overlap with those of the operators, and the rights arising from the use of logos by the Pinghu clubs ultimately belong to the operators. Moreover, the defendant had already begun to determine the exterior wall decoration style before being approved for industrial and commercial registration, including the words "Yu Huang_", so it can also be determined that the defendant used it first.
Short comment: The defendant's operator has been familiar with the "Yuhuang_" logo for five years, and has the ability to identify the relevant public. The use of "Yuhuang_" has not changed. Before the plaintiff registered the trademark, the defendant's right of prior use was established and did not constitute trademark infringement.