The Trademark Review and Adjudication Board of the State Administration for Industry and Commerce ruled that the famous trademark "ONETOUCH" of American Johnson & Johnson Company was revoked. Johnson & Johnson is once again in crisis.
"If you don't appeal within 3 days, Johnson & Johnson's blood sugar products can only be removed from the shelves." Li Zhong, head of Guilin Zhonghui Biotechnology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Zhonghui"), told the reporter of China Business News.
zhonghui announced the ruling from the trademark review and adjudication board of the state administration for industry and commerce (hereinafter referred to as the "trademark review and adjudication board"). According to the ruling, the famous trademark "ONETOUCH" of Johnson & Johnson Company, the largest supplier of blood glucose meters in China, was ruled to be revoked.
an industry insider familiar with Johnson & Johnson said that in the expanding blood sugar monitoring market in China, Johnson & Johnson ranks first with a share of over 3%, with annual sales of nearly RMB 1 billion. If Johnson & Johnson products change their trademarks hastily, the huge market space will probably be filled by domestic manufacturers such as Sannuo Bio, Yicheng and Yuyue Medical.
"Due to the huge company and inflexible mechanism, Johnson & Johnson's traditional dominant position in the field of blood glucose testing in China has long been a spent force, but it seems only a matter of time before it is surpassed by domestic manufacturers in the OTC market." The above-mentioned person said. According to the ruling issued by the Trademark Review and Adjudication Board, on December 19th, 211, Zhonghui filed a dispute application for the trademark "ONETOUCH" of Johnson & Johnson Company (registration number: 3384889), requesting to cancel the trademark, on the grounds that there is only a space between "ONETOUCH" and "ONE TOUCH", and the word "One touch" directly indicates the characteristics of the use method and operation function of the goods.
in its ruling, the Trademark Review and Adjudication Board said that the trademark was revoked in accordance with Article 11, Paragraph 1 (2), Article 41, Paragraph 1 and Article 43 of the Trademark Law of the People's Republic of China.
"Johnson & Johnson's' One Touch' trademark was registered in China in July 24. Since then, Johnson & Johnson has earned at least RMB 1 billion because of this trademark. We can report its illegal profits and ask it to compensate us for our losses." Huang Yunzhong, an attorney in Guilin Zhonghui's case, said.
a person in charge of medical device sales said that in the domestic blood glucose monitoring market, Johnson & Johnson and Roche, two foreign giants, have obvious advantages in the top two markets, with a total share of over 6%. In the global market, products of Johnson & Johnson, Roche, Abbott and Roche occupy the top four.
According to the data from Diabetes Branch of Chinese Medical Association, the number of diabetic patients in China in 21 has exceeded 93 million, ranking first in the world. According to industry estimates, the domestic blood sugar monitoring market is between 2.5 billion yuan and 4 billion yuan. As the largest producer in this market, Johnson & Johnson has annual sales of about 1 billion yuan.
obviously, Johnson & Johnson won't leave the matter at that, losing the huge market of China because the trademark was revoked. Jiang Ke, the media affairs manager of Johnson & Johnson medical devices, said that Johnson & Johnson had issued a statement for this purpose, which said: "Johnson & Johnson is very disappointed with the result of the dispute ruling of the Trademark Review and Adjudication Board of the State Administration for Industry and Commerce, and Johnson & Johnson will file an administrative lawsuit with the people's court in accordance with the law, requesting to revoke the above ruling and safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of the company."
"The company's relevant legal procedures are being started, and we will bring a lawsuit to the court on time according to the 3-day validity period. Huang Yun Zhong, the defense lawyer of Zhonghui, applied to the Trademark Review and Adjudication Board in his own name in 211, and his malice was very obvious." Jiang Ke said.
according to the information published by both parties, Johnson & Johnson filed a trademark registration application for "ONETOUCH" with the State Trademark Office on November 27th, 22, which was approved on July 21st, 24. Zhonghui believes that the company has successfully developed photoelectric blood glucose test paper with independent intellectual property rights as early as 2, and issued the Enterprise Standard for Blood Glucose Test Paper on December 2, which is not only earlier than the application date of the disputed trademark, but also earlier than the earliest commercial use time claimed by the respondent when applying for registration in the United States (January 15, 21).
"We don't comment on the rumor of' ‘ONETOUC'.
Johnson & Johnson's business in China is divided into three parts, the first is the medical device business, the second is the pharmaceutical business, and the third is the consumer goods business including cosmetics. According to public information, in 212, Johnson & Johnson's global sales amounted to US$ 67.2 billion, surpassing Pfizer to become the largest enterprise in the global pharmaceutical industry, and Johnson & Johnson's stable blood glucose meter was the largest household blood glucose meter sold in retail channels in the United States in 212. Johnson & Johnson has made it clear that he will go to court with Zhonghui again, and the lawsuit will go to the end. Some insiders believe that if Johnson & Johnson tries his best to fight back, the outcome of the lawsuit is still unknown.
The feud between the two companies began before 27.
Guilin Zhonghui obtained the registration license of blood glucose test paper on February 28th, 22. According to the contents of this license, Zhonghui can legally produce blood glucose test paper for use in the United States, including Johnson & Johnson ONE TOUCH series blood glucose meters.
At that time, Johnson & Johnson's blood sugar test products were shining brightly in the domestic market. Because the blood glucose meter can only use the test paper produced by the same manufacturer, although Johnson & Johnson's blood glucose test paper is expensive, it is still in short supply. The test paper produced by Zhonghui is approved to be used in Johnson & Johnson ONE TOUCH series blood glucose meters, and the price is much cheaper than Johnson & Johnson's test paper, which is tantamount to copying Johnson & Johnson's "back road".
"We are the only manufacturer in China that can produce test paper for Johnson & Johnson blood glucose meter." Li Zhong said that the situation of the company was very good at that time. "Products are in short supply, and employees can't be recruited into the enterprise if they don't take the relationship."
although zhonghui's annual sales peak is only 3 million yuan, which is far from the order of magnitude of Johnson & Johnson's global sales of tens of billions of dollars, zhonghui's impact on Johnson & Johnson far exceeds the order of "1 million yuan".
in p>26, Johnson & Johnson sued Zhonghui in the American court. The reason is that in October 26, Johnson & Johnson found a large number of counterfeit Johnson & Johnson brand blood glucose test strips in the market. These test strips were printed with "ONE TOUCH", which was different from Johnson & Johnson's trademark in that there was an extra space. However, these test strips caused significant deviation in blood glucose test values, which was dangerous to users' lives. Johnson & Johnson believes that the counterfeit manufacturer is Zhonghui Company in Guilin, China.
in March, 27, Johnson & Johnson sued Zhonghui Company in new york Eastern District Court on the grounds that Zhonghui Company conspired with others to counterfeit its registered trademark and its blood glucose test paper, with a claim amount of not less than USD 5 million.
in p>27, Johnson & Johnson reported to the Ministry of Public Security and Guilin Public Security Bureau that the blood glucose test paper produced by Zhonghui Company infringed the trademark right, and asked the public security organ to file a case for investigation as a criminal case. On October 22, 27, Guilin Public Security Bureau put the case on file for investigation. In July, 28, Guilin Public Security Bureau detained seven Zhonghui employees, including the general manager of Zhonghui Company.
Because of being sued, the performance of Guilin Zhonghui was hit hard. Yao Chongde, the general manager, died after being detained and released, and some key employees lost their ability to work due to mental problems. However, the case has gone through many sessions before and after, but it has not been able to make a judgment. It was not until December 213 that the Trademark Review and Adjudication Board gave the above ruling.
"Johnson & Johnson refuses to accept the appeal. If the ruling of the Trademark Review and Adjudication Board is established, then Johnson & Johnson's trademark will be invalid, and it is impossible to say that our trademark is infringed. However, if the court decides that the ruling of the Trademark Review and Adjudication Board is not established, it means that ONETOUCH is not a medical professional vocabulary, and it is not the same as ONE TOUCH. Then it is nonsense to say that our infringement must be compensated for the losses caused to us. In any case, Johnson & Johnson needs to give us a statement." Huang Yunzhong said.