Recently, the Shenzhen Futian People’s Court issued a first-instance judgment in favor of Estée Lauder group represented by attorneys Nathan Yang and Ming Pan of NTD IP Attorneys in a trademark infringement dispute concerning its subsidiary brands. The court fully upheld the right holder’s claims, ordering the defendant to destroy the infringing goods and pay RMB 1.1 million in economic damages and reasonable enforcement expenses. Per public database inquiries, this case sets a record for the highest damages awarded in a trademark infringement case arising from customs seizure and administrative penalties in the beauty product sector. It also marks the first decision in the beauty category under the 1210 cross-border e-commerce model to hold the domestic consignee liable for trademark infringement, with court support. The ruling serves as a strong deterrent against the use of cross-border e-commerce channels to distribute counterfeit cosmetics, and provides an important judicial reference for clarifying the responsibilities of domestic parties involved in cross-border e-commerce, protecting consumer rights, and regulating industry market order. This case fully demonstrates the profound expertise and professional wisdom of the NTD legal team in handling complex cross-border IP matters. (*Note: The 1210 cross-border e-commerce model, also known as the “bonded warehouse model,” involves bulk importation of overseas goods into bonded warehouses in China, where they are stored temporarily. After consumers place orders on cross-border e-commerce platforms, the goods are cleared through customs and shipped from the domestic warehouse.)
Case Summary
In recent years, with the rapid development of new business formats such as cross-border e-commerce and bonded warehousing, the online and cross-border distribution channels for cosmetics have become increasingly diverse, and the problem of counterfeit cosmetics has become more prominent. Against this backdrop, there is an urgent need to strengthen regulation of counterfeit cosmetics distributed through new channels such as cross-border e-commerce, and to further clarify the legal responsibilities of various participants in the commodity distribution chain.
This case involves well-known brand trademarks of Estée Lauder group, including “ESTEE LAUDER”/“雅诗兰黛” (Chinese of ESTEE LAUDER) and “LA MER”/“海蓝之谜” (Chinese of LA MER). These brands have long been well recognized by Chinese consumers. Through continuous and extensive use and promotion, the relevant trademarks have acquired high distinctiveness and market influence. Among them, the “ESTEE LAUDER”/“雅诗兰黛” trademarks have been recognized as well-known marks in multiple prior judgments and, together with “LA MER,” have been included in the 16th Batch of Key Trademark Protection List of Shanghai.
In September 2024, the defendant in this case, acting as a domestic agent in cross-border e-commerce business, had declared for export to Hong Kong through Shenzhen Huanggang Customs certain cosmetics, including “LA MER” treatment lotion and face cream. The goods, which bore marks identical or similar to Estée Lauder group’s registered trademarks, were detained by customs and subjected to administrative penalties.
However, after receiving the administrative penalty, the defendant continued the infringing conduct. In March 2025, the defendant again declared for import through Shenzhen Huanggang Customs certain products, including Estée Lauder anti‑blue light eye cream, Estée Lauder 7th generation Advanced Night Repair serum, and LA MER Treatment Lotion. These goods were again detained by customs for suspected infringement of Estée Lauder group’s trademark rights.
After trial, the court held that the evidence submitted by the defendant was insufficient to prove that it was merely a warehousing and logistics service provider for overseas enterprises under the cross-border e-commerce model. Considering the customs declaration documents, transaction documents, and actual performance, the defendant acted as the consignee and buyer in the import transaction, and as the consignor and seller in the export transaction. Accordingly, the defendant was legally obligated to exercise reasonable examination and truthful declaration regarding the customs declaration matters and the IP status of the imported/exported goods. The court therefore ruled that the defendant, by selling the infringing goods, should bear corresponding trademark infringement liability. This determination clarifies that under the 1210 cross-border e-commerce model, a domestic consignee cannot evade IP review obligations and infringement liability simply by claiming to be a “service provider” or “warehousing/logistics party.”
Of particular note, although the goods in question had not yet reached the end market due to customs detention, the court held that the export act constituted a sale, and the import act, absent evidence that the goods were solely for personal possession or consumption, should be deemed a preparatory act for sale and an integral part of the sales chain. Therefore, both the import and export acts fell within the scope of the Trademark Law of the People’s Republic of China. This ruling effectively addresses the attempts of some infringers under the cross-border e-commerce and bonded warehousing models to evade liability by claiming “no actual sale” or “not yet entered the market,” and has positive implications for intercepting counterfeit goods in cross-border e-commerce supply chains.
Regarding damages, the court comprehensively considered the high reputation of Estée Lauder group’s trademarks, the large volume of infringing goods (more than 14,000 units seized across two incidents), the high value of the goods, the defendant’s repeated conduct after receiving administrative penalties (clear repeated infringement), and the reasonable enforcement expenses incurred by the rights holder. The court fully upheld Estée Lauder group’s claim for RMB 1.1 million in damages. The court also ordered the defendant to destroy all infringing imported goods under court supervision or in the presence of Estée Lauder group, and expressly stated that failure to perform the destruction obligation without justifiable reason would result in a late performance penalty.
Significance
Cosmetics directly affect consumer health, safety, and user experience. This ruling not only strongly protects the legitimate rights and interests of Estée Lauder group’s brands, but also serves as a powerful deterrent against the use of cross-border e-commerce channels to distribute counterfeit cosmetics, providing guidance for relevant judicial practice.
Nathan YANG
Senior Partner
Attorney-at-Law
Trademark Attorney
Nathan Yang graduated from the University of International Business and Economy with a Master of Law in 2008, and then joined NTD to engage in intellectual property legal services. Later, he went to Chicago-Kent College of Law and earned LLM degree.
Mr. Yang focuses on Trademark, anti-unfair competition, copyright, litigation and administrative enforcement, arbitration, investigation, customs detention, contract and negotiation, domain name dispute resolution, enterprise IP strategy and general legal consultancy.
The cases represented by Mr. Yang have successively won such honors as the Top 10 Typical Intellectual Property Cases in Servicing and Safeguarding High-Quality Development of Technological Innovation (2022-2025) by Hangzhou Court, 2024 Typical Intellectual Property Cases by Shenzhen Court, 2024 Typical Anti-Unfair Competition Cases for "Maintaining Fair Competition and Optimizing the Business Environment" by Shenzhen Court, 2022-2023 Typical Trademark Cases by China Trademark Association, 2021 Top 10 Trademark Litigation Cases by Beijing Trademark Association, 2021 Best International Legal Service Cases by Beijing Bar Association. He was selected as 2024-2026 Chambers and Partners ranked lawyer for “Intellectual Property: Litigation” in Greater China Region, Lexology Index: IP 2025 report: Trademarks Recommended Individual, 2025 INTA Rising Star, 2022-2025 WTR 1000 Recommended Individual, WIPR Insights Trademarks Rankings 2023-2025 (China) Highly Recommended Individual on Contentious field, 2025 Beijing Trademark Association 30th Anniversary Celebration: Leading Figure in Trademark Legal Services.
Ming PAN
Partner
Attorney-at-Law
Ming Pan holds a Master of Laws degree from the Renmin University of China. Since joining NTD in 2013, she has been providing intellectual property legal services and strategic advice to numerous well-known domestic and international companies.
Her practice covers a broad range of intellectual property matters, including trademark litigation, unfair competition disputes, copyright infringement litigation, trademark administrative litigation, administrative enforcement actions, online infringement monitoring and enforcement, domain name arbitration, domain name infringement litigation, copyright registration, customs protection of intellectual property rights, and contract review.
Ms. Pan has represented an international hotel group in a series of trademark infringement disputes and commercial arbitration proceedings, successfully helping the client stop infringing activities on multiple occasions, obtain substantial damages, and secure well-known trademark recognition in several cases. She also represented a renowned international toy brand in a trademark infringement lawsuit against a toy manufacturer in Shantou; the case was selected for inclusion in the 2021 Intellectual Property Judicial Protection White Paper published by the Shantou courts.
In 2023, Ms. Pan was selected for the Foreign-Related Legal Talent Pool of the Beijing Lawyers Association.
