the cosmetics production workshop of L 'Oré al Cosmetics Company in Suzhou. Because of trademark disputes, L 'Oreal has quietly changed the Chinese name of NUTRIX ROYAL series products from "Mi Yan" to "Mi Yang".
on December 1st, L 'Oré al moved its headquarters in China and moved into the brand-new Shanghai Transocean Building. As a super company in the cosmetics industry, the sales of L 'Oré al in China reached 5.445 billion yuan last year, up 3% year-on-year. In the first half of this year, the sales of L 'Oré al China Company increased by more than 3% again.
Guangzhou Huilin Beauty and Health Products Trading Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Huilin Company"), which is more than 1, kilometers away from it, is running its own limited business on the side of an alley in Yuexiu District, Guangzhou. The total office space of this small company is not as big as the front desk of L 'Oré al's China headquarters.
if it weren't for a trademark crash, no one would compare these two companies together. Six days later, they went to court in Guangzhou Intermediate People's Court.
Two "Mi Yan" surfaced. There is a "Jianhua Beauty Studio" named after the boss Ke Jianhua in Wenzhou, Zhejiang Province. It has been distributing the brand "Mi Yan" for five or six years, and it also provides a set of perfect after-sales care services for customers. Because of careful management, it is also famous in the local area. However, since 27, some customers began to ask Ke Jianhua, saying, "Are you honey Yan a fake Lancome product?" Ke Jianhua told reporters: "Many old customers feel that our studio is unreliable and will no longer buy our products and services."
A beauty salon in Guangzhou called "Liyan Meier" is also caught in a similar dilemma. "Although Lancome Miyan has been removed from the shelves, we have developed several new customers," Li Xingying, the boss of Liyan Meier, told reporters. "But many old customers who have lost can't make up for it."
Similar customer feedback has been bothering Zheng Yaoguang, the boss of Huilin Company since 26. He introduced to the reporter: Huilin Company's "Mi Yan" began to produce in 2, began to publicize in 21, began to sell in 22, was approved to register the "Mi Yan" trademark in 24, and its service life was until 214. "Huilin Miyan" was originally an American product. At first, it was just a paper subcontracting contract. Later, because it was found that Chinese people were not suitable for this product, Huilin Company cooperated with Jinan University in 1999 to make improvements and decided to make its own brand.
Just when Huilin Company started to set up its own business, in 26, "Lancome Honey Yan" suddenly appeared on the market, and Zheng Yaoguang watched his market being swept away by this airborne soldier from France. "Lancome Mi Yan" was formerly NUTRIX nourishing cream, which went on sale in Europe in 1936. To commemorate the 7th anniversary of NUTRIX's listing, Lancome Laboratories combined the original "secret recipe" and the latest scientific research results, and launched NUTRIX ROYAL (Chinese name: Mi Yan Nourishing) series in 26.
with the continuous improvement of the recognition of Lancome Miyan series, the two "Miyan" have developed in a changing trend. Huilin company's limited business is even more declining. Zheng Yaoguang thought that "Mi Yan" was its registered trademark, and Lancome used it without permission, infringing Huilin's exclusive right to use the trademark. "Because of the strength of Lancome's international brand, Huilin Company is carrying the blame for this infringement." On July 2th, 27, Zheng Yaoguang filed a complaint with the industrial and commercial bureaus in Guangzhou and Shanghai respectively. L 'Oré al then negotiated with Huilin Company. The general idea is that the reporter visited several L 'Oré al Lancome dealerships in Guangzhou, and the salesmen all said that the sales of "Mi Yan" series were suspended at present. While the "Mi Yan" products were removed from the shelves, Zhou Genliang, a public relations staff member of L 'Oré al (China), claimed in an interview with the media that "Lancome products are selling normally in various markets." At present, on Lancome's official website, the Chinese name of NUTRIX ROYAL series products has been changed from "Mi Yan" to "Mi Yang".
The reporter saw a written mediation agreement in Huilin Company without the title of L 'Oré al Company. In the agreement, L 'Oré al admitted that it "misused" the trademark "Mi Yan" on Lancome products, and was willing to pay 1 million yuan for the settlement. There is also a striking clause in the agreement: Huilin Company shall not publicize this event in any form in the future.
"In principle, we will not agree to make compensation, and we must openly apologize." This is Zheng Yaoguang's attitude. He said that the company spends millions of dollars on brand advertising every year, and Mi Yan has a certain reputation in the industry. L 'Oré al's "misuse" argument is untenable. His attorney also questioned the word "misuse": "If it weren't for a trademark, the word" Mi Yan "would not be found in the dictionary. There are so many Chinese characters in China, how could it be so clever? Moreover, there are not many brands in China, and it is impossible for L 'Oré al to enter China without making an investigation. "
The reporter then contacted L 'Oré al (China) and asked how L 'Oré al formulated the brand name "Mi Yan". About an hour later, L 'Oré al called back and said that she refused to give any interview about Mi Yan's trademark.
A few days later, the reporter found Lan Zhenzhen, the vice president of L 'Oré al China, and she said, "I can only say that the determination of L 'Oré al's brand name is a rather complicated process. I can't say it now. When the event has a result, we will say it. " Lan Zhenzhen also mentioned that there are so many Chinese brands in Hongkong, Taiwan Province and mainland China, and many factories are also producing counterfeit L 'Oré al products. The implication is that L 'Oré al is really a little concerned about preventing infringement and avoiding misuse of existing trademarks. "We have been actively working hard in a positive direction. The market is always imperfect. It depends on people to improve it, not on catching the wind."
Because the mediation agreement presented by Huilin Company has no title, the reporter can't judge its authenticity. According to the introduction, this agreement was forwarded through the Trademark Office of Guangzhou Administration for Industry and Commerce. Because of the slow progress of the complaint, Huilin Company has filed a trademark infringement lawsuit with the Guangzhou Intermediate People's Court, and the case will be heard on January 8, 29.
At this time, a piece of "Reply" from the State Administration for Industry and Commerce made the balance of development fluctuate. The reporter saw the copy of the reply, and the last sentence was: "According to the letter and the attached materials, our bureau believes that the words" Lancome Miyan Nourishing Essence Milk "used by L 'Oré al (China) Co., Ltd. on the labels of cosmetics products it sells are not similar to the registered trademark No.336375".
This undoubtedly dealt a blow to Huilin Company, which thought it was the winner. Zheng Yaoguang did not hesitate to take the Trademark Office of the State Administration for Industry and Commerce to court. L 'Oré al, on the other hand, breathed a sigh of relief for the time being. Because of the affirmation of the national authority, since August this year, its willingness to negotiate has obviously decreased, and cosmetics are wholesale. When talking about the dispute, Lan Zhenzhen, vice president of L 'Oré al China, said that "some companies are obviously premeditated", from which it can be seen that L 'Oré al does not seem to rule out the possibility that Huilin Company may plan malicious lawsuits, and they may also launch a counterattack.
"It's really the wicked who complain first." Zheng Yaoguang's words made the incident more explosive.
At present, this infringement case has been set as a model by many trademark law experts and scholars, and its trend will play an exemplary role in future trademark infringement cases. Judge Chen Weimin of Guangzhou Intermediate People's Court, who will be in charge of hearing the case on January 8, told reporters that there are many cases of trademark infringement, but most of them are grassroots products "alongside famous brands", and cases like "Mi Yan" suing foreign brands for infringement are rare. He guessed: "Maybe L 'Oré al will find a way to defend with' Mi Yan' as a unique name of a famous commodity, like Nippon Company before."
Nippon owns two best-selling Chinese brands "Meideli" and "Yongdeli", but these two brands were registered by Shantou Gangtong Commercial Firm as early as 1994, and their trademarks were transferred to Baoxili Chemical in 2. Subsequently, Bao Xili, as the trademark registrants of "Meideli" and "Yongdeli", sued Nippon for trademark infringement. After the founding of the state, evidence was given to prove that these two trademarks had been used in Chinese areas such as Singapore and the Philippines in the 196s and 197s, with a history of more than 4 years. The final judgment of the court is that Nippon Company does not constitute infringement. According to international practice and relevant laws and regulations, although it is not registered in China, Nippon has formed a unique name as a famous commodity when using the two names "Meideli" and "Yongdeli", which enjoys legal protection. The State Trademark Review and Adjudication Board ruled that the trademarks of Baoxili Company were revoked, and Baoxili Company published an apology announcement on the first page of Beijing Evening News. This trademark lawsuit caused great controversy in the industry that year.
"Up to now, the company has a strong sense of trademarks, and will register all similar trademarks in advance as defensive trade mark." Chen Weimin said, "However, some companies may not wait until the trademark registration is successful, so they will put their products on the market first. However, under normal circumstances, enterprises will know whether the trademark has been used when they check it on the trademark network, or they can entrust a professional company to check it, which is very fast. " The reporter randomly typed in the word "Mi Yan" on China Trademark Online, and found the trademark with registration number of 336375 in less than one second.
Zheng Yaoguang, the head of Huilin Company, told the reporter: "Sometimes, looking at these two products, I don't even believe that L 'Oré al will use our trademark. I think that L 'Oré al, as the best company, has eliminated our small brand in this way. "
Lan Zhenzhen, vice president of L 'Oré al China, repeatedly exaggerated and didn't want to see the current false voice interfering with the justice of the lawsuit. Her most impressive sentence for reporters was: "Before the law came into effect, we should have died a thousand times."
L 'Oré al's Joy and Bitter L 'Oré al, a giant company in the cosmetics industry, has always been shrouded in a halo. "Top Ten Charitable Enterprises", "27 Top 5 Contributions in China" (published by Southern Weekend) and "28 Top 5 Most Admired Companies in the World" (American Fortune magazine)?
These names are different from those of Guangzhou "Mi Yan" and Hangzhou "George? Armani's infringement incident has formed a strong contrast.
Women's money is usually easy to earn, especially for the cosmetics market in China. L 'Oré al has naturally planned for a long time, especially after China's entry into WTO. Four years ago, L 'Oré al, known as a "brand acquisition expert", integrated Xiao * * * within 5 days, and then acquired Yuxi in a flash, which was its charge to further seize the China market. Four years later, in 28, 95% of L 'Oré al's products sold in China were produced in China, and its annual growth rate of 3% exceeded the average level of China market by three times. L 'Oré al's market ranking also rose from the third place before the acquisition of Little Nurse to the second place. It can be said that L 'Oré al has a lot of experience in dealing with local brands in China.
However, another contest with Huilin Company also reminded L 'Oré al: Although domestic cosmetic enterprises are mainly small and medium-sized enterprises at present, the research and development of scientific formulas are still in the cottage stage, which cannot compete with foreign giants; Although the products of large companies can sell for hundreds of dollars, while local brands can only sell for dozens or even a few pieces, they are not easy to "provoke". No matter what happens in ultimate judgment, L 'Oré al may be more cautious in the face of brand competition in the future.
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