經通國際智慧產權事務所

The Intermediate People's Court of Guigang City successfully mediated the trademark infringement dispute between the plaintiff, Adidas AG, and the defendants, MO Shi-Lin and Mo Chia-Ching on July 4.  The two defendants has to compensate Adidas AG of the financial losses due to the trademark infringement and make public statement in the newspaper to eliminate the impact of the said trademark infringement in accordance to the agreement reached between the parties.

The defendants had been manufacturing and selling clothing bearing the “adidas” trademark in their own clothing factory in Gueping City without the authorization from the plaintiff.  Gueping City’s Quality Technology Supervision Bureau investigated the infringement activities of the two defendants and seized 3880 pieces of counterfeited sportswear in stock on December 26, 2012. 

Adidas filed a subsequent lawsuit against the two defendants in April 2013 for trademark infringement, which has caused serious financial, reputational damages to its brand and company image, and demanded all infringement activities be ceased along with a compensation fee of $200,000 to be paid to Adidas.  Further, a public statement is also to be made on the newspaper to eliminate all relevant impacts afflicted by the said infringement. 

The Intermediate People's Court of Guigang City held a hearing on the case. During the proceedings, the parties reached an agreement through the Court’s mediation. The defendants, Mo Shi-Lin and Mo Chia-Ching must pay the plaintiff, Adidas, a compensation fee of $72,850 and make a public statement on the "Guegang Daily" as requested by Adidas. 

The success of the Court’s mediation of Adidas’ case not only shows effective measure has been taken for the protection of the intellectual properties rights of an international famous brand, but also helps in raising public awareness to be compliance with the law of an organization’s conducts in order to create a favorable investment environment.

Derived from the official website of the Court of China dated July 8, 2013.

Organized and translated by International Affairs