News

A. Background

The American sportswear company New Balance has won a major case against one of China's most famous copycat brands. New Barlun was judged by Shanghai Huangpu District Court on January 5, 2021, to pay New Balance RMB 25 million in damages for trademark infringement. This compensation is one of the largest granted to an IP holder in the sportswear sector in a Chinese court .

This decision is the latest in a longstanding legal battle between New Balance and New Barlun. New Balance's battle against the copycat brand has now lasted 16 years....

Introduction

The US basketball legend Michael Jordan won an important case in Shanghai at the end of December 2020. The court judged that a Chinese sports and shoe manufacturer who has been using Jordan's name as a trademark , was acting without permission and with the intention of misleading the consumer. However, the court did not revoke the decision that the phonetic English spelling of the Chinese translation of the name Jordan can be used. The Chinese company must formally apologize, which is something unique in the Chinese legal history.

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The Shanghai Higher People's Court issued a final judgment on December 29, 2020. It denied the defendants' appeal and upheld the original decision .

In April 2019, police confiscated tools used to replicate Lego toys and toy products, as well as toy packaging, instruction manuals and delivery orders from a rented factory. The infringing products were sold under the “LEPIN” brand. According to an assessment by the Copyright Appraisal Commission of the Copyright Protection Center of China, these toys and operating instructions were essentially identical to the Lego originals and...