Daqing Ruby Ice Cream Co., Ltd., a Northeast brand of "street internet celebrity" ice cream, filed a lawsuit against Nanchang Hongyuan Cold Industry Co., Ltd. on the grounds of trademark infringement, requiring it to immediately stop producing and selling "Northeast Block" In the first instance of the Haidian District People's Court for infringing goods, the company ruled that Hongyuan Company should stop the infringement and compensate Ruby Company for economic losses of 40,000 yuan.
"Northeast Big Board" was found guilty of infringing "Northeast Big Board"
Ruby Company claimed that the company began to sell "Ruby" brand "Northeast Big Board" popsicles in May 2013 , ice cream was put on the market and enjoyed high visibility and reputation in the national market. "Northeast Big Board" is the registered trademark of Ruby Company, and the products approved for use include ice cream, popsicles, etc.
Since September 2018, Ruby Company has successively discovered that the "Northeast Big Block" ice cream produced by Hongyuan Company is sold in the Beijing market. The name "Northeast Big Block" prominently used on its product packaging is incompatible with Ruby Company. The registered trademarks were similar, and he believed that his behavior infringed upon Ruby Company's trademark exclusive rights, so he filed a lawsuit with the court and requested the court to order the defendant to stop the infringement and compensate for economic losses and reasonable expenses totaling RMB 50,000.
Hongyuan Company argued that the company began producing and selling "Northeast Chunk" ice cream in 2012 and invested a lot of energy and financial resources in marketing. The company printed and customized packaging boxes earlier than the plaintiff , which is also earlier than the time when the plaintiff’s trademark was registered, constitutes prior use. The trademark "Northeast Daba" has become a common name for goods. "Northeast" refers to the Northeast region. It lacks distinctiveness and should not be registered as a trademark.
In addition, Hongyuan Company has more than 20 "Northeast Block" manufacturers distributed in various regions. Even if Ruby Company's products sell well in the north, they cannot prove their market recognition in Nanchang. Ruby Company did not provide evidence to prove its losses, and its economic losses had no factual and legal basis.
The court held that compared with "Northeast Big Block" and "Northeast Big Board", three of the characters are exactly the same. Both "block" and "ban" refer to the shape of the product as "square". Therefore, "Northeast Large Block" and "Northeast Large Slab" are generally similar, and the retail price of both products is 3 yuan, which can easily cause the public to misunderstand the source of the product. Moreover, Hongyuan Company did not provide evidence to prove that "Northeast Big Board" is a national standard or an industry standard, or has become a conventional title. Based on the above factors, the court ruled in the first instance that Hongyuan Company should immediately stop infringement and compensate Ruby Company for economic losses and reasonable expenses of 40,000 yuan.
Hongyuan Company’s “Northeast Big Board” trademark application has not yet been approved
Public information shows that Daqing Ruby Ice Cream Co., Ltd. was established in 1992 and is currently equipped with more than 10 large ice cream bars. Ice cream automated production line, marketing network covers more than 200 cities and regions across the country. Since 2014, Ruby Northeastern Slab has become popular in Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, Hangzhou and other places, and imitation brands are also popping up.
In February this year, Ruby Ice Cream Company stated in an interview with a reporter from the Beijing News regarding this case that the only cold drink company that can legally use the "Northeast Daba" trademark is Ruby Ice Cream Company. The previous " Infringing brands such as "Emerald" and "Sapphire" have been eliminated, and the company can be said to ignore the cost in protecting trademark rights.
According to the trial files published on the Judgment Documents website, the "Daban" trademark was first registered by Shenyang Deshi Cold Beverage Food Co., Ltd. in March 2012, and was later approved to be transferred to Daqing Ruby Ice Cream in December 2016. company. According to information from the Trademark Office of the State Intellectual Property Office, Ruby Ice Cream Co., Ltd. applied for registration of the "Northeast Daban" word trademark for ice cream, popsicles, sorbet and other cold drinks in January 2015. The scope of trademark application has now been extended to coffee, beverages, milk and other cold drinks. products, frozen yogurt and other fields.
Since 2017, Ruby Ice Cream Co., Ltd. has successively sued Jiujiujiu (Beijing) Food Co., Ltd., Sheyang Tianyuan Food Co., Ltd., Yingze District, Taiyuan City, etc. for unfair competition. Weihaojia Cold Drink Factory, Henan Province Puyang City Nanle County Bababa Cold Drink Factory, Hailin City Chaihe Town Zhongxing Cold Drink Factory, Nanchang Hongyuan Cold Industry Co., Ltd., etc. went to court, but most of the cases ended with the withdrawal of the lawsuit.
On the other hand, Hongyuan Company and Hong Kong Kaiduobao Industrial Co., Ltd. were co-defendants in 2016 and were sued by Ruby Company for trademark infringement. The case was later withdrawn.
In February this year, on the official website of Hongyuan Company, a reporter from the Beijing News found 3 "Kaido_Northeast Large Ice Cream" ice creams. One of them, "Northeast Large Grassland Milk Ice Cream", had the same outer packaging as the common ruby ??Northeastern Ice Cream on the market. relatively similar. The company's official website also displays the "Kaido_Northeastern Daban" series of ice cream in a prominent position on the homepage, accompanied by promotional text such as "The Northeastern Daban is ice-cold and delicious."
According to information provided by the Trademark Office of the State Intellectual Property Office, Nanchang Hongyuan Leng Industrial Co., Ltd. applied for registration of the Class 30 trademark "Northeast Big Board" at the end of 2016, but it was rejected. The company also applied for registration in March 2016. In March, we applied to register the Class 30 trademark "Northeast Dababan" (including ice cream, ice cream, popsicles, etc.), which is still waiting for substantive review. For more trademark information, welcome to visit Bajie Intellectual Property Trademark Transfer Network!