Twenty trademarks of Zhen Kung Fu were invalidated

Two months ago, Bruce Lee’s daughter Li Xiangning sued Guangzhou Zhen Kung Fu Catering, claiming an infringement case of 210 million yuan, and the infringement case ushered in a court hearing. Involving "general personality rights disputes".

At that time, industry insiders generally believed that the claim amount of 210 million yuan was too high, and the plaintiff exceeded the legal time limit for revoking the trademark involved. Considering all factors, the case was difficult to defend.

Just when the outcome of the case was still unclear, new changes occurred in the "Zhen Kung Fu" trademark, which made the direction of the case gradually clear.

On August 25, 2022, 20 "Zhen Kung Fu" trademarks held by Guangzhou Zhen Kung Fu Catering Management Co., Ltd. were declared invalid.

Since then, 14 more trademarks that resemble Bruce Lee’s portraits and classic movements have been ruled invalid by the State Intellectual Property Office. The applicant is Bruce Lee Cultural Information Consulting (Shanghai) Co., Ltd., and Li Xiangning is the legal person of the company. . After review, the State Intellectual Property Office held that before the application for registration of the "True Kung Fu" trademark, Bruce Lee was already a well-known public figure with extremely high popularity and widespread influence.

The "True Kung Fu" trademark is almost identical to Bruce Lee's portrait and classic moves. When used as a trademark on approved services, it is easy for consumers to misunderstand the source of the service and other characteristics, which violates the "Trademark Law" The situation referred to in Item (7) of Article 10, Paragraph 1.

In the end, the State Intellectual Property Office ruled that the "Zhen Kung Fu" trademark was declared invalid. At the same time, several other trademarks of "True Kung Fu" were declared invalid due to violation of Article 10.1.7 of the "Trademark Law".

In fact, in 2010, Li Xiangning established a rights protection office in China , to handle Bruce Lee’s trademark infringement. On December 25, 2019, Bruce Lee Company filed a lawsuit against Guangzhou Zhen Kung Fu Catering in the Shanghai No. 2 Intermediate People’s Court, requiring the defendant to immediately stop the infringement, publish a statement to eliminate the impact, and requested the court to order the defendant to compensate for economic losses of 210 million yuan. and reasonable expenses of 88,000 yuan for rights protection.

This time, 20 "Zhen Kung Fu" trademarks have been declared invalid, which will become a key factor affecting the outcome of the case.

It needs to be noted. What is interesting is that once the trademark invalidity ruling takes effect, the exclusive right to the corresponding registered trademark will be deemed to have ceased to exist from the beginning.

At the same time, the reason for the invalidity is that the State Intellectual Property Office believes that the registered trademark of Guangzhou Zhen Kungfu Catering is different from the original one. Bruce Lee's portrait and classic movements are almost identical, so Li Xiangning's request to the court to "stop using Bruce Lee's image" will be easily supported.

But this does not mean that Guangzhou True Kung Fu Restaurant must change its name. There are two reasons.

First, Guangzhou Zhen Kung Fu Catering has already completed the upgrade of the graphic trademark and re-created the font and cartoon of the trademark LOGO.

Second, this time. The invalid registered trademark does not involve other trademarks under the company's name, especially the Chinese "Zhen Kung Fu" trademark, which means that the use of the three words "Zhen Kung Fu" will not affect it.

If If the lawsuit fails, Guangzhou Zhen Kung Fu Catering will not only bear corresponding liability for compensation, but will not have a major impact on its company's operations.

In business activities, whether there are problems with trademark registration or brand protection, there will be no problems. It may affect the whole body. I hope that the majority of business operators will take this as a warning and try their best to use original designs when applying for trademarks and not rely on the popularity of others.

In addition, whether they are public figures or companies, they all need to be careful. You need to always pay attention to the situation of trademarks and brands related to you on the market, carry out trademark layout in advance and do defense work. At the same time, when facing infringement, you must attack decisively and actively defend your rights.

Legal basis:

Determined by Article 63 of the Trademark Law of the People's Republic of China

The following factors may be considered in determining the amount of claim for trademark infringement:

1. Determine based on the actual losses suffered by the right holder due to the infringement;

2. Determine based on the benefits gained by the infringer due to the infringement;

3. Refer to the The multiple of the trademark license fee is reasonably determined;

4. If the court determines that it is difficult to determine the loss of the right holder, the profit of the infringer and the trademark license fee, the People's Court shall make a judgment based on the circumstances of the infringement. Compensation of less than five million yuan will be granted.