Posted on: September 8, 2016

Hailan Clothing Ltd. (the plaintiff) is the right owner of trademarks No. 3196649 in respect of “textile materials, cotton fabrics, linen beddings, and furniture coverings of textile” of Class 24 and No. 4077661 (Hai lan) in respect of “clothing, shirts and underwear etc.” in Class 25. The mark has been widely known to the public through extensive use and advertisement by the plaintiff.

Hailan Fabrics of Jilin Dong City Business & Economic District (the defendant) was found using  (Hai lan) on “curtain fabrics”. Moreover, according to investigation, the defendant company was registered in 2011 with business scope covering textile retailing, whereas the plaintiff’s mark had enjoyed considerable reputation nationwide by 2011.

Represented by Unitalen attorneys, the plaintiff brought a lawsuit against the defendant for trademark infringement and unfair competition. During trial, Jilin Municipal Intermediate People’s court found the plaintiff enjoys exclusive right to “海瀾” trademarks and the defendant has constituted infringement on the registered trademarks. Moreover, the defendant’s use of plaintiff’s registered trademark as their business name has constituted unfair competition.

On June 7, 2016, Jilin Municipal Intermediate People’s Court made the first-instance rulings that 1) the defendant shall cease infringement on the plaintiff’s exclusive right of trademark, 2) the defendant is ordered to remove the Chinese 海瀾 (Hai lan) from its business name within 10 days after the ruling takes effect, and 3) pay an indemnity of 200,000 RMB yuan to the plaintiff for their economic losses and reasonable costs incurred.