Monthly Summary on High Profile IP Cases in China

(February 2020)

1.    €10M Suit Accuses Vanward Of Using TM “Schuster”

2.    Chinese procuratorate prosecutes Lego’s copycat Lepin

3.    Tencent Wins RMB 4.96M In Copyright Infringement Trial

4.    China is preparing to be the signatory to the Hague Agreement

1. €10M Suit Accuses Vanward Of Using TM “Schuster”

Italian boiler manufacturer Unical AG S.p.A accused Guangdong Vanward New Electric Co., LTD of using its trademark “Schuster”, claiming more than €10 million in damages, according to the announcement published by Vanward on 5 Feb 2020.

In its complaint filed in the Foshan Intermediate People's Court, Guangdong Province, Unical alleged that Vanward impermissibly registered the trademark of its sub-brand “Schuster”. The Italian company also said that Vanward breached the agreement for failing to reach the minimum purchase quantity.

The lawsuit is seeking a ruling that Vanward breached agreements, improperly registered and used trademark, as well as damages stemming from the alleged infringement, attorney fees and costs.

Founded in 1993, Vanward holds a large market share for gas stove, oven, range hood and electric water heater in China. It has been authorized to distribute, produce and sell boilers and boiler fittings with Unical’s trademark “Schuster” after signing the exclusive sales agreement and trademark license agreement with Unical in 2015.

The case has not yet been heard up to the announcement date. (Source: www.ce.cn)

2.       Chinese procuratorate prosecutes Lego’s copycat Lepin

The third branch of the Shanghai Municipal People's Procuratorate has braught a public prosecution against nine individuals on 26 February 2020 for infringing the copyright of Lego. The amount of illegal business is more than 300 million yuan, according to the forensic accounting appraisal.

The nine defendants confessed that they copied 47 series of Lego building blocks without authorization. Over the past 3 years, they have produced and sold 4.24 million boxes of the clone brand Lepin, which is confirmed to be the reproduction of Lego toy bricks by the Copyright Authentication Committee of the Center. The public security bureau initiated a raid action in 2019 and seized more than 600,000 boxes of infringing products in a warehouse, with a value of more than 30 million yuan. (Source: Shanghai Observer)

3.       Tencent Wins RMB 4.96M In Copyright Infringement Trial

The Guangzhou Internet Court has ordered a literary company and an Internet company that infringed copyrights of Tencent to pay the internet giant RMB4.96 million and to stop the distribution of Tencent’s game video. It’s the first time that multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) games are recognized as cinematographic works by the Chinese court.

Tencent sued the two companies for copyright infringement and unfair competition, alleging that the literary company made huge profits by inducing users to upload gameplay videos of Arena of Valor on the company’s videogame platform. Arena of Valor is a MOBA game developed by Tencent Games.

Tencent said the other company was sued for joint infringement as it provided distribution and download services for the videogame platform, expanding the influence of infringement.

The RMB4.96 million damages against the literary and Internet companies includes 4.8 million yuan economic losses and RMB160,000 reasonable cost for the lawsuit. The two defendants have appealed, according to the court. (Source: China Intellectual Property News)

4.       China is preparing to be the signatory to the Hague Agreement

Spokesperson Geng Shuang of China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that China is now actively promoting its accession to the Hague Agreement concerning the International Deposit of Industrial Designs. Several departments have initiated domestic legal procedures for accession to the Hague Agreement and strive to complete relevant preparations as soon as possible.

At present, China is the top country by number of patent applications in the world. It also rises to No.2 and No.3 in R&D spending and patent issuing. China ranks 14th in 2019 Global Innovation Index published by the World Intellectual Property Organization, rising for the fourth consecutive year. (Source: People’s Daily)