Before obtaining Fengshen trademark, Dongfeng Shen Feng has been eager to carry out a series of brand rejuvenation and model upgrading. In the vision of Dongfeng Shen Feng, Fengshen trademark will give Fengshen brand more sports attributes, and then get terminal sales.
Reality jumped up, bypassed his arm and gave Dongfeng Shen Feng a slap in the face.
Restart foreign names after 30 years
Compared with other brands' complete trademarks composed of Chinese, English and graphics, Dongfeng Shen Feng has lost an English name for 30 years.
At the Chongqing Auto Show on June 13, Dongfeng Shen Feng released a brand-new Fengshen. According to the official explanation, Fengshen means "the master of the wind", which originated from Fengshen in ancient Greek mythology. It is also the English name of Dongfeng Shen Feng, which represents the new platform, new technology and new quality of Fengshen, and marks that the brand of Dongfeng Shen Feng has entered a new stage.
Dongfeng Shen Feng subsequently released the Yi Xuan Track Edition, Yi Xuan GS, Yi Xuan EV and AX7? Many models of PRO have added Fengshen under the logo of the "Shuangfeiyan" on the front of the car. On the official website in Dongfeng Shen Feng, Fengshen even occupied the upper left corner where the corporate LOGO should have been placed.
The trademark war is about to start.
Embarrassed, in the 30 years since Dongfeng Motor Group gave up Fengshen, this ancient Greek fairy has been registered and carved up by many companies with different trademark classifications.
Among them, in 2006, Fengshen Tire Co., Ltd. (referred to as Fengshen Tire for short) began to register the Fengshen trademark with the international classification "12- means of transport", completed the registration procedure in April 2009, and completed the trademark renewal before the trademark expired in 20 19.
Although Fengshen Tire's previous registration of Fengshen trademark was limited to tires, "12- vehicle" belongs to the same category as automobile products, which greatly hindered Dongfeng Shen Feng from restarting Fengshen trademark.
2065 438+09 165438+ Dongfeng Motor Group submitted two international trademark registration applications for "12- means of transportation" and "37- building restoration" on129, but in March and April 2020, both applications were rejected. In the following April and May, Dongfeng Motor Group submitted an application for trademark reexamination again, hoping to obtain the right to use Fengshen logo in vehicle production, maintenance and repair.
In June, when the trademark ownership was not clear, Dongfeng Shen Feng "rushed" to promote Fengshen at the Chongqing Auto Show. "fengshen track logo", and the words fengshen were added to the vehicles released later. Whether all kinds of behaviors are suspected of infringing the legitimate rights and interests of Fengshen tires will be a potential legal issue.
Although there is no direct competition between the two companies, Fengshen Tire also made a silent counterattack against Dongfeng Shen Feng's wanton use of Fengshen logo.
On August 7th, Fengshen Tire submitted an application for graphic trademark registration, and the classification was still "12- means of transport". From the naked eye, the design of this trademark is almost the same as that of Dongfeng Shen Feng's "Shuangfeiyan" trademark.
Some professionals said that the possibility of Fengshen Tire obtaining the trademark is infinitely close to zero. Dongfeng Shen Feng tried to register the Fengshen trademark under Fengshen Tire, and the latter applied in reverse with the other party's graphic trademark, which was more like showing a gesture of coming and going.
Fengshen tire not only shows its posture, but also improves the protection of Fengshen trademark. 10 year 10 filed a trademark registration application in the category of 10 on October 27th.
Payer ding
Dongfeng Shen Feng is not without opportunities. On June 10 and 10, the information of China National Intellectual Property Administration Trademark Office showed that the application for trademark registration classified as "12- means of transport" with the application number of 42700990 was rejected, and then it entered the document issuing procedure.
In this link, the outside world can't check whether the trademark has been registered through the public platform, and Dongfeng Motor Group and the trademark registration agency will get the cutting result first.
If Dongfeng Motor Group obtains the Fengshen trademark as it wishes, Dongfeng Shen Feng will be able to keep the words Fengshen on the car body and increase the publicity of the English logo of the brand. Once the ruling is made, Dongfeng Motor Group cannot obtain the approval of Fengshen trademark, and Dongfeng Shen Feng will be in an extremely embarrassing situation.
Not only does official website need to be revised, but the pre-promotion of Fengshen "Fengshen Track Logo" is almost invalid, and the version of Yi Xuan Track that has been sold is almost invalid. Yi Xuan GS, Yi Xuan EV and AX7? PRO, it may be necessary to "rebuild" the Fengshen logo on the front of the car, otherwise it is very likely to face infringement lawsuits from Fengshen Tire or other companies.
Now it seems that Dongfeng Shen Feng's "gamble" left no room for failure from the beginning.
At the end of March 2020, Ding succeeded Zhang Zutong as the general manager of Dongfeng Passenger Car Company. Judging from the time of personnel changes, it is difficult to explore who led Fengshen's restart and made full use of it. It may be that Zhang Zutong put all his eggs in one basket before leaving office, it may be Ding's new look after taking office, and of course it may be that senior leaders reprimanded him.
No matter what the previous situation is, the ultimate burden still falls on Ding's shoulders. It depends on whether the ancient Greek fairy Fengshen showed his spirit.
This article comes from car home, the author of the car manufacturer, and does not represent car home's position.