Trademark Infringement Dispute

1. Summary of the case

The plaintiff's predecessor is "Xi'an Health Materials Factory". Xi'an Health Materials Factory changed its name to "Xi'an Qiangsheng Pharmaceuticals Manufacturing Factory" in 1985, again to "Xi'an Qiangsheng Co., Ltd." in 1998. The registered capital of the plaintiff is 30 million yuan, and its business scope covers the production of tablets, capsules, granules, ointments, rubber plasters, etc. On June 15, 1986, Xi'an Qiangsheng Pharmaceuticals Manufacturing Factory obtained the "Qiangsheng" & device Trademark Registration No. 253176, approved for use with goods in Class 31 "Western Medicine" (subsequently amended to Class 15 of international classification). On March 28, 1999, the transfer of the trademark to the plaintiff was approved by the Trademark Office. The trademark has been renewed twice and was valid until June 14, 2016. On March 28, 2004, the plaintiff obtained the "Qiangsheng" & device Trademark Registration No. 3292202, approved for use with goods in Class 5's "human drugs, medical drugs, chemical drugs preparation, biochemical drugs", etc., valid until March 27, 2014. On June 28, 2007, the plaintiff obtained the "Qiangsheng" Trademark Registraion No. 4125448, approved for use with goods in Class 5's "human drugs", etc., valid until June 27, 2017. As the owner of the exclusive rights of the above-mentioned trademarks, the legal rights and interests of the plaintiff should be protected by law. The defendant used the "Qiangsheng" trademark on the same goods without the plaintiff's legal authorization, which constituted infringement of the plaintiff's trademarks; meanwhile, the registration of "Qiangsheng" as an enterprise name by the defendent and its prominent use constituted unfair competition against the plaintiff. The defendant Jilin Light Co., Ltd. sold the infringing products produced by the defendant Shanghai Qiangsheng Co., Ltd., which also infringed the plaintiff's exclusive right to use the trademark. In order to protect the legal rights of the plaintiff, the plaintiff filed a lawsuit with Intermediate People's Court of Changchun

2. Summary of judgements

First Instance: The defendant immediately stopped the infringement, that is, the defendant Shanghai Qiangsheng Co., Ltd. stopped using the “Qiangsheng” trademark and the goods bearing the trademark; the defendent Jilin Light Co., Ltd. stopped selling the infringing products; the defendant Shanghai Qiangsheng Co., Ltd. compensated the plaintiff for huge economic losses.

Second Instance:The defendant refused to accept the judgment of the first instance and appealed, and the Higher People's Court of Jilin Province upheld the judgment of the first instance.

Retrial and Settlement: The defendant refused to accept the second instance judgment and applied to the Supreme People's Court for retrial. The Supreme People's Court presided over several mediations during the retrial review, and eventually the original defendant reached a settlement agreement to end the dispute.