At the beginning of the new year of 2022, regarding the case of Continental Continental Tire (China) Co., Ltd. v. Horse Brand Auto Parts (Jiangxi) Co., Ltd. and other companies for trademark infringement and unfair competition, we received a first instance judgment from Beijing Chaoyang District Court which rules in favor of Continental.

 

The verdict includes that the three defendants should immediately stop the infringement of the exclusive right of the Continental's registered trademark "horse device"; immediately stop using the company name similar to Continental's brands; publish a statement and eliminate the impact; compensate the economic loss of 4.5 million yuan RMB and a reasonable expenditure of RMB 250,000.

 

This case is one of the civil lawsuits initiated by Continental against the three defendants, and the other is a lawsuit initiated by the Beijing Intellectual Property Court against the auto parts product "filter." The case has received favorable results in the first and the second instances. The verdict includes: the three defendants immediately stop the infringement of the exclusive right to the registered trademark of "德国马牌" (German Horse Brand in Chinese); transfer the domain name "mapai.cm" to Continental; change the company name; compensate economic losses of 1 million yuan and reasonable expenses of 100,000 yuanYuan; publish a statement and eliminate influence. The facts found in the judgment include that the trademark "German Continental" has been widely publicized and used on tires and other commodities for a long time and has reached a level well known to the relevant public in China and should be recognized as a well-known trademark.

 

This series of cases have demonstrated the determination and strength of intellectual property protection in thejudicial practice and the professionalism and dedication of judges in China. The rights holders also expressed their high recognition of the trial work.