The trademark owner of the American milk powder brand "Xibei" in China has banned the operation of the overseas shopping website "Mitao.com" on the grounds of trademark infringement and unauthorized use of its corporate name, which constitutes unfair competition. The party filed a lawsuit in court. The first-instance judgment of the court determined that "Mitao.com" constituted trademark infringement, but did not need to bear compensation liability.
The lawsuit between the trademark owner and the overseas shopping website
Shanghai Feiya Import and Export Trading Co., Ltd. (referred to as Shanghai Feiya) is the importer and distributor of the famous American milk powder brand Xibei Ya Company), has signed two authorization letters, and successively authorized all registered trademarks under its name - HAPPYBELLIES - to Shanghai Xibei Culture Communication Co., Ltd. (referred to as Shanghai Xibei Company) for use in the form of exclusive license.
After receiving the authorization, Shanghai Xibei Company opened the "Xibei Maternal and Infant Official Flagship Store" on well-known e-commerce companies such as Tmall, JD.com, and Suning.com to sell infant and young child foods using the Xibei logo. . On the product packaging, Shanghai Xibei Company clearly indicates that the origin of the product is the United States, the manufacturer is Nurture, Inc., and the importer and distributor is Shanghai Feiya Company. It also adds Chinese labels to the products that retain the original English packaging. for illustration. In addition, Shanghai Xibei Company has also invested a lot of money in online and offline promotion of the Xibei brand.
At the same time, products using the HAPPYBELLIES trademark are also sold on the overseas shopping website MiTao.com. By browsing the website, it is not difficult to find that when displaying the above products, MiTao.com uses the words HAPPYBELLIES HAPPYBELLIES, HAPPYBABY imported from the United States, HAPPYBABY HAPPYBABY from the United States, etc.; in specific products, On the display page, the photos of individual products contain Chinese labels, and the labels display the words "Shanghai Feiya Import and Export Trading Co., Ltd." When introducing some products, MiTao.com described that they are sold simultaneously with the US market and enter China after customs inspection. Brands that are local to the US are only sold in the US market.
As for the supply channel of the goods sold, MiTao.com said that it hired professional buyers to place orders on the US website and send them to the US warehouse, then forward them to the Hong Kong warehouse, and finally from Hong Kong Mailed to buyer. At the same time, "Mitao.com" also entrusts Shanghai Muhong Trading Co., Ltd. to directly deliver goods to buyers by regularly settling payments.
During the court investigation, both parties recognized that the "Xibei" infant food sold by Shanghai Xibei Company and "Mitao.com" were products produced by Nurture, Inc. in the United States.
Shanghai Xibei Company believes that MiTao.com has infringed upon its trademark rights and that its unauthorized use of its Xibei corporate name constitutes unfair competition, so it filed a lawsuit with the court to request a ruling. Beijing Beihu Technology Co., Ltd., the operator of Taowang, immediately stopped the infringement and unfair competition and compensated 500,000 yuan in economic losses.
The court determined that it constituted trademark infringement
After trial, the court held that the products sold by MiTao.com were genuine products produced by Nurture, Inc. and originating from the United States. , but trademark rights are territorial. In China, Shanghai Xibei Company is the sole authorized owner of the trademark "HAPPYBELLIES". Any use of the above trademarks on the same or similar goods without the permission of Shanghai Xibei Company constitutes trademark infringement. .
In this case, the infant food sold by "Mitao.com" has the same scope of approved use as the registered trademark "HAPPYBELLIES" of Shanghai Xibei Company; while the products sold by "Mitao.com" are used in the same scope The "Xibei" logo is also not significantly different from the "Xibei" registered trademark of Shanghai Xibei Company, constituting similar trademarks and easily confusing consumers. Therefore, MiTao.com’s sales of Xibei infant food constitutes an infringement of Shanghai Xibei Company’s registered trademark exclusive rights, and it shall bear the legal responsibility to stop the infringement.
Legal source order?Mitao.com? exempt from compensation
my country’s Trademark Law stipulates that if you sell goods that are not known to infringe the exclusive rights of a registered trademark, you can prove that the goods were obtained legally by you. It also states that the provider will not be liable for compensation.
In this case, the HAPPYBELLIES rice noodles and other infant foods sold by MiTao.com can be deemed to have been purchased from the U.S. market.
The product was purchased legally in the United States and then entered mainland China via Hong Kong. It passed customs and paid postal tax during the process of entering mainland China. There are no prohibitive regulations in my country regarding the entry and tax payment of this kind of goods, and under the current general trend of economic globalization, cross-border shopping for overseas goods has become a choice for more and more ordinary consumers in mainland my country. Consumption mode, as long as the overseas goods purchased across the border are legally produced and sold in the country of origin and have fulfilled legal entry procedures, they should be deemed to have legal origins. The goods that MiTao.com entrusts Shanghai Muhong Trading Co., Ltd. to send directly to buyers are obtained through normal business activities. Therefore, the "Xibei" products sold by "Mitao.com" are all from legal sources, so there is no need to bear liability for compensation for goods that infringe trademark rights.