"Lipu Taro" also came to defend their rights!Many merchants have been sued the trademark infringement, and some online stores have been claimed to 400,000

Following the "rights protection" of Hu Spicy Soup and Tongguan Meat Cycles caused heated discussions, another well -known local specialty "Lipu Taro" set off a storm of rights protection. Recently, a number of online store owners sold online in Nanning, Guangxi, received a court ticket from the court, saying that there was a "Lipu taro" trademark infringement, and was claimed by the Lipu Mingyou Agricultural Products Association. Some online stores were claimed to claim The amount is as high as 300,000 to 400,000 yuan.

New Yellow River reporter learned that "Lipu Taro" was the first certificate trademark in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. At that time, the Famous Agricultural Products Association was at the Lipu County Agricultural Bureau. "Now it is an independent legal person unit that has long been decomposed with the Agricultural Bureau." The relevant person in charge of the Lipu Agricultural and Rural Bureau told reporters that "Lipu taro" is a national geographical logo product, and trademarks are protected by law. Using may indeed involve illegal. At present, the famous Agricultural Products Association has not responded to rights protection.

"Lipu Taro" suddenly opened rights protection, the target is mainly targeted at online stores

Ms. Du is one of the merchants who have been claimed by rights. Ms. Du said that on August 19, she suddenly received express delivery from the Liangqing District People's Court in Nanning, which included the subpoena, civil prosecution, and the court mediation proposal. Civil prosecution shows that the plaintiff is the Lipu City Famous Agricultural Products Association and the defendant is Ms. Du. Because Ms. Du opened a "taro farmer, vegetables and vegetables" shops on a online shopping platform, her baby title uses the words "Lipu Taro", which belongs to the same trademark on the same product as the plaintiff. The corresponding connection of one -to -one affects the brand value of the plaintiff's "Lipo taro" trademark and constitutes a trademark infringement.

The indictment also stated that the defendant's total sales of its infringing product line had reached 100,000+ pieces. Even if the minimum unit price displayed by the store was calculated, the online sales volume of the defendant had reached more than 635,000 yuan. huge. The plaintiff requested the defendant to immediately stop the infringement of the plaintiff's dedicated rights, and ordered the compensation to compensate the plaintiff for a total of 300,000 yuan due to the "implementation of trademark infringement and unfair competition infringement."

"According to the notarized materials provided by them, the time for evidence is in October last year, and the keywords such as" Lipu Taro "were randomly entered from the online shopping platform, and then found our shop. After buying the goods, after more than half a year, I initiated a claim with me. In fact, the store has been closed for several months. "Ms. Du said that the product page involved in the case was titled" Guangxi Lipu Taro Puzi Vegetable Vegetable Fragrance ", which is a goods from the local agricultural trade wholesale market in Nanning. The 1.5-2 kg/piece of Greater Lipu taro, but a small taro, has no brand and packaging. As for whether she really produces in Lipu, she can't know. "At that time, it was cheaper. Although the target price was 6.35 yuan, there was 1 kg in one, and it was not often sold 6.35 yuan. In order to sell the sales volume, it would often engage in spike and price reduction promotion. The actual sales did not have more than 60 at all. 10,000 yuan. When we open an online store, we are all small business, and the amount of compensation of hundreds of thousands of yuan is an astronomical figure for us. "

On the same day, Ms. Chen in Nanning received the same difference in prosecution materials. Ms. Chen also opened a small shop on the online shopping platform. Because of "the sales volume on the infringing product reaches 100,000+ and the minimum unit price displayed by the store is calculated, the sales have reached more than 990,000 yuan." The Agricultural Products Association claimed to claim 400,000 yuan. "In fact, I can't associate this." Ms. Chen said that she sold a small taro that she sold, and the taro was also wholesale market wholesale market. Taro Guangxi Xiaori Taro has not used the trademark of "Lipu taro". Suddenly the defendant's infringement was inexplicable. "After receiving the indictment, I immediately changed the page with the word" Lipu ", but The other party is still unwilling. "

The lawyer claims that it can settle more than 100,000, and there are still a large number of online stores selling

After receiving the indictment and subpoena, Ms. Chen consulted the Liangqing District People's Court of Nanning on August 23 to understand the mediation process. The court staff gave her a call from Ms. Li, a plaintiff acting lawyer. According to the call recording of both parties, Lawyer Li said that the claim amount was determined based on the sales of 990,000 yuan shown on the defendant's infringement page. If the defendant did not sell so much, the amount of prosecution could be less, but the defendant provided evidence. "Because your prosecution amount is 400,000 yuan, and if you can't get evidence, I can apply for a reconciliation with the company. According to the company's standard, it may be 1560,000 yuan." Ms. Chen said that it was difficult to accept, and Lawyer Li continued Said, "How much do you plan to pay? If you have a solution, I can take it out to apply with the company."

On August 31, a reporter from Xinhuanghe contacted Lawyer Li, and the other party said that the case was no longer agreed. "The plaintiff found that their law firm's prosecution was normal business behavior, and discussing reconciliation was also a normal process."

New Yellow River reporters searched for "Lipu Taro" from multiple online shopping platforms that there are still a large number of shops on the Internet. Basically, they are agricultural special product stores. Most of the page shows "Authentic Guangxi Lipu Taro", "Guangxi Lipu Big Taro in Guangxi" "The words are different. The unit price ranges from 4-15 yuan/catties. The sales volume of some stores is more than 100,000+. They all claim that" the product is genuine, produced in Guangxi. "

"Lipu Taro" trademarks have been registered for 22 years, and the situation in the "Li Gui" is embarrassing in Lipu Taro. The specialty of Lipu City, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. According to records, it has been planting for more than 400 years. Among the taro families, Lipu Taro is above various taro with the characteristics of rich nutrition, fleshy, and fragrant taste. Therefore, it is known as "the best of the taro". The 1996 version of "Prime Minister Liu Luo" was hit. One of them caused a series of plots due to Lipu taro, which made Lipu taro start up in the country. On December 28, 2005, Lipu Taro was included in the national geographical logo product.

New Yellow River reporters sorted out and found that because of its high popularity, Lipu taro has become the pillar industry of local agriculture. The price of Lipu taro is much higher than other taro, and the price per kilogram is as high as ten or twenty yuan. As a result, vendors from all over the country have favored the maps, and they have acquired different quality taro and pretended to be sold at high prices of Lipu taro. In order to protect the Lepu taro brand, the Lipu County Government decided to register a trademark for Lipu taro. In April 2000, the "Lipu taro" certification trademark registration by Lipu County's famous product association was successfully registered, ending the history of no certificate of trademark in Guangxi. In 2004, a local media in Guangxi published an article "Lipu Taro" trademarks failed to "icing on the cake" all over the "Li Gui" situation embarrassing ", pointing out the infringement dilemma faced by the" Lipu taro "trademark. The article wrote that a staff member of the Lipu County Agricultural Bureau said that the Famous Agricultural Products Association was attached to the Agricultural Bureau and his members were the Agricultural Bureau. According to the provisions of the "Trademark Law" to prove the conditions of the use of trademarks, if the production units and individuals who plant Lipu taro in Lipu County have reached their specific quality standards, they can prove that the trademark holder -should Application of the county name special agricultural product association. However, during the survey, the reporter found that many people think that the name of "Lipu Taro" is the common "wealth" of the county, and everyone can use it. Some refuse to use it because the trademark is paid by this proof of the trademark. The "Lipo taro" proves that the infringement of the trademark has the following characteristics: First, there are many infringers, and most of the farmers and individual households are mostly; Difficulty; Third, the amount of infringement involved in a single infringement is small and relatively decentralized, and it is difficult for the trademark owner or management agency to perform effective monitoring.

According to the China Referee Book Network, the Lepu City Famous Agricultural Products Association has not issued a lawsuit on the "Lipu taro" trademark. On August 31, a reporter from Xinhuanghe called the Lipu City Famous Agricultural Products Association many times, but it has been unable to connect. The reporter then called the relevant person in charge of the Lipu Agricultural and Rural Bureau. The person in charge said that every year after the Lepu taro is off the market, a large number of fakes of Lipu taro products will emerge on the market. The "Lipu taro" trademark is protected by law. Only the taro grown in Lipu can be called Lipu taro, which must be authorized. If others are not authorized, they can use the trademark, which may involve illegal. The Namyou Agricultural Products Association is currently a non -profit social organization. They also conducted rights protection on behalf of Quanlipu.

How does the trademark defend the right? Legal experts explain the "border of rights protection" in detail

At the end of last year, the chaos of the "rights protection" of Hu Spicy Soup and Tongguan Meat Following Crusa Association of Xiaoyao Town caused public debate. Local associations registered local snacks as trademarks, using intellectual property rights as shields to obtain unfair rights from merchants, and the "rights protection" incident eventually came to an end with local associations publicly issued an apology letter. In fact, in recent years, there have been many cases of rights protection of associations across the country, including the Longjing Tea Industry Association of Xihu District, Hangzhou, the Jingdezhen Ceramics Association, the Apple Association of the Aksu area, the Wuchang City Rice Association, the Jiangsu Lobster Association, etc. Litigation rights are initiated in the way of infringement. This time, the Lipu City Names Agricultural Products Association also joined the ranks of "rights protection", and they claimed hundreds of thousands of yuan, which would inevitably make the outside world discuss. Is the association's right to defend the right? In response, Xinhuanghe reporters interviewed relevant legal experts and scholars to interpret the incident.

Feng Xiaoqing, director of the Institute of Intellectual Property Law of China University of Political Science and Law, said that Article 3 of the Trademark Law of the People's Republic of China stipulates that the trademark approved by the Trademark Office is a registered trademark, including commodity trademarks, service trademarks, collective trademarks, and certification trademarks; trademarks; The registrant enjoys the dedicated right of trademarks and is protected by law. Among these types of trademarks stipulated in the Trademark Law, such cases are usually involved in ordinary trademarks, collective trademarks and certification trademarks. "Xiaoyao Town Hu Spicy Soup" belongs to ordinary trademarks, and "Tongguan Meat Clear" is a collective trademark. In the two trademark categories of collective trademarks and proof trademarks, place name information may appear. However, there are differences between the two. Prove that the trademark is actually related to the geographical indicator because it has a specific place of origin, which means that it is more from a specific area, and this product cooperation service has a specific quality. Different. "Before Xinjiang Korla Xiangli also initiated rights protection, 'Lipu taro' is similar to it, and rights protection is nothing to be wrong. There is no problem. "

Feng Xiaoqing went on to say that the key is to claim the basis of rights and whether the way of defending rights is legitimate, and rights protectionrs cannot abuse their rights. The law clearly stipulates that the legitimacy of the place name cannot be prohibited. Although "Lipu taro" is registered with a trademark, it does not mean that other taro cannot use the word "Lipu", and the association has no right to monopolize. If the taro sold by the merchant is indeed produced in Lipu, the word Lipu taro can be made. If it cannot be proved, it is suspected of counterfeiting and violating the wrong competition law. It is eligible for rights protection. "Rights protection has a specific scope. It proves that trademark place names and brands are generally bundled in combination. There is a specific brand logo. If you want to use the brand, you must authorize. . "Lawyer Fu Jian, Henan Yulong Law Firm, also believes that the use of the word" Lipu Taro "only to explain the origin of the product instead of using other people to register the trademark. After the merchant stops selling, it will not bear the liability for civil compensation for the trademark. According to the relevant provisions of the Trademark Law, sales do not know that it is a commodity that violates the exclusive rights of registered trademarks. It can prove that the product is legally obtained and explained that the provider will be legally obtained, and the industrial and commercial administrative department shall order to stop the sales. In addition, the judgment of similar trademark infringements needs to be misunderstood. If the trademark does not confuse or misunderstand consumers, similar trademark infringement cannot be determined. The new version of the "Collective Trademarks, Certificate Management and Protection Measures", which is revised by the State Intellectual Property Office, has increased the maliciousness of collective trademarks and certification trademarks to prevent others from properly used the place names contained in the trademark or punishment measures that cause adverse impacts on society Essence After the implementation of this measure is announced, it will strengthen the restraint of collective trademarks and certification trademark registrars to reduce social bad atmosphere.

New Yellow River Reporter: Guo Jigang

Edit: Wang Lotao

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