Current location - Trademark Inquiry Complete Network - Trademark registration - How much compensation does it cost to be sued for intellectual property rights?
How much compensation does it cost to be sued for intellectual property rights?

Chinese company A applied to register a certain trademark in China, and company B in country B applied for the same trademark in country B, and then authorized domestic company C to produce products with the trademark, and then sold them directly to country B. . This involves the territorial issue of intellectual property rights, that is, a trademark applied for in a country can only be protected within that country. Specific to this case, of course, the Industrial and Commercial Bureau will investigate and deal with it as soon as it discovers the production, and the customs will definitely ban the export or even seize and confiscate it. How the People's Court hears it, the courts in different places have different opinions. The Fujian court held that it did not constitute infringement, and the Beijing court also held that it did not constitute infringement. However, the Zhejiang court determined that it did. We say that the main function of a trademark is to distinguish the source of goods. Only when it causes confusion among consumers can it constitute infringement. Since domestic companies are only processing and not selling domestically, it will certainly not cause confusion among domestic consumers and certainly does not constitute infringement. Therefore, this case does not constitute infringement in theory, but in practice, industry and commerce, customs, public security, and courts may determine infringement. 2. The amount of compensation is difficult to determine. The amount of compensation for intellectual property rights is generally awarded based on the plaintiff’s losses or the defendant’s profits. If the above losses or profits are difficult to ascertain, the plaintiff can request compensation of up to 500,000 yuan stipulated by law, and the judge will then decide based on the amount. The actual situation will be determined within 500,000 as appropriate. In our country, compensation is generally less than 500,000 US dollars, and the United States has similar regulations, with the standard compensation being 100,000 US dollars. Of course, some countries have sentenced tens of millions or even hundreds of millions. For example, the Intermediate People's Court of Hangzhou City, Zhejiang Province made a decision in the case of Zhao suing Zongheng Erqian Co., Ltd. and its franchisees ** Heyuan Clothing Co., Ltd., ** Qianying Clothing Co., Ltd., and Zhejiang ** Department Store Co., Ltd. for trademark infringement disputes. The first instance verdict ordered Zongheng Erqian Co., Ltd. to immediately stop using the "G2000" trademark logo that infringes the "2000" registered trademark rights on the socks, scarves, ties, and belts it produces and sells, and destroy the corresponding labels containing "G2000" , packaging materials; Heyuan* Division, ** Company, and ** Department Store immediately stopped selling the infringing products; ** Company compensated Zhao for economic losses of RMB 20 million. There are also trademark infringement cases like: Taihe Company, **Honghe Business Department and **Honghe Guangming Co., Ltd., the Guangdong Provincial Higher People's Court finally ruled that **Honghe Guangming Co., Ltd. compensated the right holder 10 million yuan. 2. In the trademark infringement case between China Cereals, Oils and Food (Group) Co., Ltd. and ** Jiayu Oriental Wine Co., Ltd., the Supreme People’s Court finally ruled that ** Jiayu Oriental Wine Co., Ltd. should compensate the right holder RMB 10.61 million. In the trademark infringement case between Lanye Liquor Co., Ltd. and **Pepsi-Cola Beverage Co., Ltd. and **Lianhua Huashang Group Co., Ltd., the Zhejiang Provincial Higher People's Court finally ruled that **Pepsi-Cola Beverage Co., Ltd. should compensate the right holder RMB 3 million. However, in practice, it is difficult for the plaintiff to prove losses. To prove the reduction in sales in the infringing area, it is generally necessary to submit accounting statements or audit reports, or the difference in value-added tax payment, etc. However, it is very difficult to prove the defendant’s profits, because some companies have two sets of Financial ledgers. After the financial ledgers are retrieved and audited, the defendant loses money and cannot compensate for that penny. The amount of compensation for infringement has always been a headache for the legal profession, including judges and jurists, and there is still no perfect solution. In the United States, expert witnesses are generally hired to comprehensively assess the amount of compensation based on the plaintiff’s investment, research and development expenses, the popularity of the plaintiff’s products, the bad faith of the defendant’s infringing supervisor, and the defendant’s profits from the infringement. Of course, there are also some courts that pay compensation based on the amount stipulated in other trademark and patent licensing agreements, but one problem is that the amount in this agreement is easy to falsify. 3. What to do if the other party continues to infringe after the court has made a decision to stop the infringement? What to do if the other party continues to infringe after the court has made a decision to stop the infringement. Can the case be treated as a crime of refusal to implement the court's judgment or as a repeated infringement? In practice, the case is generally prosecuted separately according to the judicial interpretation of the Supreme Court. 4. The specific method of stopping infringement is rarely mentioned in the judgment. The Zhejiang High Court made a judgment that because a car lamp infringed the appearance patent of others, it ordered to stop the sale of all vehicles. This verdict is questionable.

We believe that if a judgment to stop the infringement will cause a huge imbalance of interests between the two parties, or harm the interests of the public announcement, the judgment may not be made to stop the infringement, but the compensation method for the infringement can be clarified, and the method of patent licensing, trademark licensing, etc. can be considered to facilitate a settlement between the two parties. It's easy to understand. For example, our **TV station has been built, but suddenly someone said that the appearance infringed its copyright. The reason is that there was a painting in the 1980s, which was exactly the same as the appearance of the current CCTV building. If it is judged to stop infringement, the entire building will have to be demolished and rebuilt. This will cause huge economic waste and damage public interests, but it can be decided to make appropriate changes without violating the construction law, or to not change the existing appearance after giving financial compensation.