Trademark lawsuit

The Beijing municipal high people's court has ruled in the plaintiff's favor with regard to the charge of both trademark infringements and unfair competition, in a recent case between Komandor S. A. from Poland and Coamdo Furniture (Shanghai) Co Ltd.

The plaintiff (Komandor) charged the defendant (Coamdo) with infringing on its trademark rights by using the same trademark except the addition of the Chinese characters for similar products, intentionally confusing consumers as to the origin of the products.

The court ordered the Shanghai company to stop using the trademark and the company names of both Kemanduo in Chinese characters and Komandor in English, and pay damages for economic losses in the amount of 100,000 yuan and legal cost in the amount of 4,035 yuan.

The case has been especially significant in reminding domestic companies being careful of using trademarks or company names that are similar to the translated Chinese names of foreign companies of the same industries, says Qiu Baochang, dean of the Beijing-based Huijia Law Firm.

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