Tr adem ark infr ing ement issues ro cking high - end brand s
It has been revealed that " C arti er , " a lux ury jew el ry brand represent ing France , has file d a trad emark infr ing ement law suit against a local company in Guang zhou , China . The character istic of this case is that the trial will be conducted as a " dou ble law suit , " in which both genu ine Car tier products and counter fe it products will be held li able for legal lia bility .
Car tier is a well - esta bl ished brand found ed in Paris in 184 7, and jew el ry and wat ches be aring the " C arti er " logo are loved by the wealth y around the world . Es peci ally the " love bra ce let " and " pan cer " collection is known as the design that symbo liz es the brand .
Dist ribution of " counter fe it goods " by Guang zhou enter prises begins
The origin of the problem is that a jew el ry company head quar tered in Guang zhou City was manufact uring and selling products that used a logo that was clos ely res emb ling a registered trad emark of Car tier . The company was alleg ed ly circula ting " counter fe it goods " through its Internet e - commerce platform , which were hard to distingu ish from genu ine goods .
According to Car tier ' s claim , the Guang zhou company has " inten tion ally vio lated brand values " and has vio lated both the Anti - Un fair Compet ition Act and the Tr adem ark Act . In response , the def endant company counter ed that " the similar ity of the design is accident al , " but the view among experts that it is " cle ar inten tional imit ation " is increasing ly strong .
Civil and administrative proceed ings proceed in parallel .
The character istic of this case is that in addition to ordinary civil li tig ation , administrative li tig ation is pro ce eding simultane ously . Under China ' s trad emark law , if trad emark infr ing ement is found , administrative penal ties (su ch as fines or suspen sion of business) may be impos ed in addition to civil dam ages .
According to legal experts , " dou ble li tig ation " is limited to cases that are jud ged to be particularly vi cious , even in trad emark infr ing ement cases . Car tier has indi cated that it will take thor ough legal measures to strengthen the protection of its brand s .
A tur ning point in the intelle ctual property protection strategy of lux ury brand s
In recent years , the problem of high - end brand counter fe it products has become more serious in the Chinese market . The law suit is seen as part of the ex pansion of its intelle ctual property protection team in the Asian region from 2020 on wards , the Rich mond Group , which own s Car tier .
In the lux ury brand industry , the fate of this law suit is under sc rut iny . Because , dep ending on the content of the r uling , other lux ury brand s may also take more aggres sive legal action in the Chinese market . In particular , the fight against counter fe it goods in the onWhatsapp market place has become an important management challenge for each company .
The next trial is schedu led for November 202 3, and it is expected that it will take several more months before a verdi ct is issued . The offen sive and defen se of Car tier and Guang zhou enter prises may have a significant impact on the brand protection strategy in the future .