Recently, China’s Supreme People's Court made a final decision in favor of BROOKS BROTHERS GROUP, INC. (hereinafter as Brooks Brothers) in a dispute related to the mark “Golden Fleece”, and revoked the decision by Beijing Higher People's Court and Beijing No.1 Intermediate People's Court.
The alleged trademark, No. 3158776 device trademark, was registered on Class 25 covering goods of clothing, shoes and socks, which was transferred from a natural person surnamed Yuan to a British company Whisey Bens Fashion Control Limited (hereinafter as Whisey Bens). Brooks Brothers, formally known as Retail Brand Alliance Inc., filed a request before the Trademark Review and Adjudication Board (TRAB), claiming that they had been using the mark on products of clothing in China for years. The mark had already won certain market popularity,and the alleged trademark was similar to their mark. The coexistence of the two marks would cause confusion among consumers. Nevertheless, TRAB canceled the alleged mark on the grounds that Whisey Bens had been canceled registration and therefore had no right to obtain the alleged trademark.
Whisey Bens then appealed before the Beijing No. 1 Intermediate Peoples’ Court and Beijing Higher People's Court, claiming that though the company was canceled registration, it was still in operation. Both courts made decisions in favor of Whisey Bens.
Then Brooks Brothers made a petition before the Supreme People's Court. Upon review the court found that there were two British companies with the same name of Whisey Bens Fashion Control Limited. One was the assignee of the alleged trademark and was cancelled registration in November 2004. The other was registered in June 2008. Therefore the court held that the two companies had no relationship and were not the same legal entity and had no legal right in the dispute.
