Recently, the NTD team successfully concluded a cross-border defamation dispute. Acting as the plaintiff's representative, we ultimately compelled the defendant to issue a public apology, commit to an immediate cessation of the infringement, and agree not to publish any related infringing content again, thereby protecting our client's reputation to the greatest extent possible.
The defendant, a political philosophy PhD graduate from a well-known American university, commands a large following on multiple social media platforms (notably Xiaohongshu and the Xiaoyuzhou podcast), has published works, and has been interviewed by a renowned Chinese host, wielding significant influence in the United States and other Chinese-speaking regions. In early 2024, without verifying the facts, the defendant persistently disparaged our client on social platforms, publicly posting their photos and personal information, causing severe harm. The spread of these false claims online, further amplified and repackaged by others, triggered widespread negative repercussions within Chinese communities in the US, mainland China, Japan, and South Korea, severely disrupting our client's work and personal life.
Our client initiated defamation lawsuits in both China and the United States, with NTD handling the domestic Chinese litigation. Despite facing an unfavorable preliminary situation in the US proceedings, our team maintained pressure through meticulous evidence collection and legal argumentation. Ultimately, with court-facilitated mediation in China, we forced the defendant to issue public apologies across multiple platforms and provide a written pledge to permanently cease all infringing activities.
Throughout the litigation process, we continuously filed complaints and pursued content removal requests with the various social media platforms to minimize the spread of the false statements. Even after the defendant migrated similar content from a removed Xiaohongshu post to Weibo and the Xiaoyuzhou podcast, we sustained a high-pressure strategy. This persistence led to the defendant publishing written apologies on all three major platforms: Xiaohongshu, Weibo, and the Xiaoyuzhou podcast.
This case involved parallel lawsuits in China and the US, with the US proceedings having reached a settlement, while the domestic case required extensive citation of US judicial materials. The significant differences between the Chinese and US judicial systems and their respective standards for factual determination posed heightened challenges for our legal strategy, primarily manifesting in two key areas:
I. The Issue of Claim Preclusion
The defendant argued that the parties had already reached a settlement in the US based on identical facts and grounds, and therefore, under the principle of claim preclusion, a new lawsuit was impermissible. We successfully refuted this by presenting evidence demonstrating that the facts underlying the domestic lawsuit were not entirely identical to those in the US case. Citing relevant provisions of the Civil Procedure Law of the People's Republic of China, we argued that res judicata does not apply across different legal jurisdictions, successfully defeating this defense.
II. The Issue of Evidentiary Value of US "Motion"
The defendant submitted US court motion documents to support their claims. After researching substantial US procedural law, we pointed out that a "motion," as a procedural request for the court to issue a ruling, did not constitute a substantive adjudication on the merits of the case facts by the US court in this instance and therefore could not serve as factual evidence.
Additionally, the defendant used pseudonyms to refer to our client in the infringing content. We meticulously reviewed all the defendant's historical posts, cross-referenced related clues, and systematically demonstrated the real-world identity targeted by these pseudonyms, effectively countering the defense that the content "did not refer to a specific individual".
This case represents another successful representation by the NTD Intellectual Property Attorneys team in a high-profile defamation dispute involving a public figure. With our professional legal expertise and meticulous approach, we promptly and effectively mitigated the adverse impact for our client, robustly safeguarding their legitimate rights and interests. Our efforts also contribute to fostering a cleaner and healthier online environment.
Fei LI
Ryan TANG
Mr. Tang mainly practices in the fields of intellectual property, civil and commercial dispute resolution, and competition law. He also has extensive experience in foreign-related legal services, corporate compliance, transaction and license. Mr. Tang has long provided legal services to numerous internationally renowned companies and, as the lead attorney, has dealt with hundreds of foreign-related intellectual property and civil and commercial cases across China. He is highly dedicated to research, with a comprehensive and in-depth study of cutting-edge intellectual property issues, and possesses significant advantages in handling complex and intricate projects.
