Recently, the Nantong Intermediate People's Court made the first-instance judgment on the trademark dispute over L'OIYIR and L'OREAL( 欧莱雅 as the Chinese version), ordering defendants Hangzhou L'OIYIR Cosmetics Co.,Ltd and Shanghai MILENE Cosmetics Co.,Ltd to cease infringement and jointly indemnify 400,000 Renminbi yuan in damages to the French firm L'OREAL. In addition, the Hangzhou company shall cease use of 欧莱雅 as its trade name and pay 100,000 Renminbi yuan to L'OREAL for unfair competition.
From 1981 to 2001, L'OREAL registered several trademarks of L'OREAL, 莱雅 and 欧莱雅, which were approved to be used in Class 3 i.e. cosmetics, beauty products and perfumes. Hangzhou L'OIYIR was established in June 2004 and was engaged in manufacturing and distributing of cosmetics with Shanghai MILENE. In January 2005, Shanghai MILENE used a logo combining both English and Chinese, “L'OIYIR 莱雅”on the packaging of products. Hangzhou L'OIYIR advertised and recommended the products on its website and claimed that the products are from French L'OREAL.
Upon review, the Court held that the two defendants have jointly constituted trademark infringement, and the use 欧莱雅 by Hangzhou L'OIYIR as its trade name constituted the unfair competition. Therefore, the decision was made in favor of French L'OREAL.
