On April 21, 2020, the China Supreme People’s Court (SPC) released the Top 10 and 50 Exemplary IPR Cases of 2019. The retrial proceeding initiated by renowned healthcare provider United Family Hospital (UFH) against a copycat in Fuzhou City of Fujian Province on the ground of trademark infringement and unfair competition is selected as one of the 50 exemplary IPR cases of the year. Wanhuida Law Firm represents UFH in this case.

In the retrial judgment, the SPC partially overturned the decisions of the Fuzhou Intermediate Court and the Fujian High Court, affirming that besides the infringing word mark “和睦佳” (which shares the identical pronunciation and the same first two words with UFH’s Chinese trademark), the defendant should stop using the infringing device mark “” and deregister the infringing trade name “和睦佳”. The SPC also raised the damages from RMB 300,000 to RMB 3,000,000.

This case is referred to as a showcase of China’s dedication to the protection of IPRs in healthcare service field in the press conference held by the State Council Information Office last week.

Contributed by: Huan Xia