Recently, Simon Electric (China) Co., Ltd (hereinafter referred to as Simon China) won a trademark dispute against Wenzhou Smondavi Electric Co., Ltd (hereinafter referred to as Wenzhou Smondavi).
In 2009, Wenzhou Smondavi applied for registration of "Smondavi trademark and the figurative trademark” which were approved in 2010, registered on Class 9 covering goods of electric switches, sockets, electric bells and lighting ballasts, etc.
Simon China opposed the registered trademarks of Wenzhou Smondavi and cited two trademarks of their own. The two cited trademarks were the No. 1522093 "simtone" trademark on Class 9 covering commodities of distribution consoles, sockets, transformers, electric brake chambers and visual telephones registered in 2001 and the No. 4241088 "smitone" trademark in English, registered in 2007 covering products of cables, electrical switches, high and low voltage switch boards and electric control boards. Both were related to the core products of Simon China.
After examination, The Trademark Review and Adjudication Board (TRAB) under the State Administration for Industry and Commerce (SAIC) approved the request of Simon China and rejected the registration of "Smondavi and device" trademark.
Unsatisfied with the decision of TRAB, Wenzhou Smondavi appealed the case before Beijing No.1 Intermediate People's Court. After review the court held that the opposed trademark is similar to the two cited trademarks in terms of the overall appearance and the use, which would easily cause market confusion. Therefore, the court affirmed the decision of TRAB.
