Recently, the Paris-based supermarket giant, Carrefour SA filed a lawsuit against Anhui Jiale Supermarket Chain Co Ltd(hereinafter refers to as Jiale Supermarket) and its subsidiaries in Fuyang city, East China's Anhui province, for trademark infringement.
Carrefour alleged that the Jiale Supermarkets use the name and logo appearing on price tags, receipts, and shopping bags, which are similar to Carrefour’s trademark. . Such act was likely to cause consumer confusion and violated the rule of fair competition and infringed Carrefour trademark.
Therefore, the French retailer requested the court to order the Jiale Supermarket to change its logo and pay Carrefour 6 million Renminbi yuan in compensation.
Jiale Supermarket Chain Co Ltd, established in 2002, was initially registered as Anhui Fuyang Jialefu (the Chinese version of “Carrefour”) Business and Commerce Co Ltd. The company changed its name from "Jialefu 家乐福" to "Jiale 家乐" in August 2009. To date, Jiale Supermarket has opened more than 160 supermarkets under its name in Fuyang city, most of which are located in nearby towns and countryside.
Jiale Supermarket alleged it has not infringed Carrefour's trademark since the company already changed its name from "Jialefu 家乐福" to "Jiale 家乐" before the lawsuit was filed. It also claimed that Carrefour's Chinese logo "Jialefu 家乐福" literally means "happy family" in Chinese, and it lacked the features of a distinctive trademark.
The case has not yet been decided.
