In order to prevent the use the registered trademark “Founder Yihe 方正颐和" by others, Founder Group filed a lawsuit against Beijing Founder Yihe Technology Ltd.,co.(hereinafter referred to as the “Beijing Yihe”) before a court, asking for orders to changes the defendant’s company name and a compensation of 500,000RMB. Recently, Beijing Haidian District People's Court made a decision in favor of Founder Group, ruling that Beijing Yihe should change its company name, stop using the “Founder Yihe 方正颐和" trademark, and pay Founder Group 40,000 RMB.
Founder alleged that it has been using “Founder Yihe 方正颐和" trademark since 1997 and the alleged trademark covers computer-related goods. Beijing Yihe which was founded in 1999, used “Founder Yihe 方正颐和" as the company name and highlighted the use “Founder Yihe 方正颐和" words on goods such as navigation devices and wireless air cards. Founder claimed that since Founder also produces navigations and wireless air cards bearing mark “Founder Yihe 方正颐和", the acts of the defendant can easily cause confusion among consumers.
The defendant argued that Founder has not used “Founder Yihe 方正颐和" in their company name for a long time, and the name “Founder Yihe 方正颐和" for Beijing Yihe was legally registered and the use of the “Founder Yihe 方正颐和" trademark on its products was reasonable. Therefore, no infringement was constituted.
Upon careful review, the court held that the use and registration of the mark by Founder was earlier than Beijing Yihe. When establishing the company, Beijing Yihe was willful and already infringed the right of Founder. Beijing YIhe can not be exempted from liabilities even though they had been using the name for long. Further, both companies produced the same products which made it more difficult for consumers to distinguish the products from the 2 companies.
Therefore, the court made a final decision, ordering Beijing Yihe to change their company name, stop use of "Founder Yihe 方正颐和" trademark on the wireless card and navigation devices, and pay the plaintiff a total of 40,000 RMB for economic loss and legal costs.
