Montagut's media & advertising manager Jean-Francois Arnold shows how to identify the trademark.
Bonneterie Cevenole, a French company and trademark owner of the international fashion brand Montagut has won a lawsuit filed in the Shanghai High People's Court against a Shanghai laundry service and manufacturer that illegally used the Montagut trademark and flower logos to promote its business.
In April, Shanghai No. 2 Intermediate People's Court ordered Shanghai Mengjiao laundry company to cease infringement and compensate Montagut 500,000 yuan in damages for trademark infringement and unfair competition. The court identified the plaintiff's trademarks Montagut and Montagut plus flower logo were identified as "Well-known" marks.
Bonneterie Cevenole registered the trademark Montagut (its Chinese version is Mengtejiao) and the Montagut plus flower logo in China many years ago, and Montagut's T-shirt have since become popular in China.
An individual named Chen Dakao incorporated the laundry company, Shanghai Mengjao Investment Management Co, Ltd (hereinafter Shanghai Mengjiao company) on July 29, 2005.
Chen used "Montagut" and the Montagut plus flower design as his trademarks to attract the franchisees to join the franchise under the belief that Mengjiao Co was authorized by Montagut's owner, Bonneterie Cevenole.
The Shanghai Mengjiao company's website said that it already developed more than ten franchisees. Chen also allegedly arranged a Hong Kong shadow company named French Montagut Laundry International Group Company to promote, mislead and confuse the mainland customers.
In 2005, it came to the Bonneterie Cevenole's attention that Shanghai Mengjiao company, used its trademark Montagut, flower logo and the "French Montagut Laundry" on the Shanghai Mengjiao company's website www.mtg1890.com, promotional brochures and in its plaques at laundry outlets.
Shanghai Mengjiao company also used the promotional terms such as "Romantic French Laundry" and "Montagut Laundry originally comes from France and has services in China".
"Montagut" and the flower design are significant and inherent commercial value trademarks. The court ruled that Shanghai Mengjiao company used a strikingly similar logo as the Bonneterie Cevenole's trademark and thus it was easy to cause confusion amongst the public. Shanghai Mengjiao company had no trademark right to Motagut's logo and Bonneterie Cevenole has neither authorized nor licensed Shanghai Mengjiao company to use the trademark "Montagut" and never transferred it to the Shanghai Mengjiao company. A through investigation confirmed that the Shanghai Mengjiao company was neither Bonneterie Cevenole's distributors nor agents. Hence, Shanghai Mengjiao company had no legitimate right to "Montagut" and the flower design, and has no any relationship with Bonneterie Cevenole.
According to the Chinese Trademark Law Article 13, " A trademark shall not be registered and its use shall be prohibited where the trademark constitutes a reproduction, an imitation, or a translation, of a well-known trademark of another person already registered in China and is likely to mislead the public and damage the interests of the owner of the registered well-known trademark, if the trademark is the subject of an application for registration in respect of goods which are not identical or similar to the goods to which the well-known trademark applies."
Shanghai Mengjiao company's activities constituted trademark infringement of the Bonneterie Cevenole's trademark right.
Shanghai Mengjiao company appealed to the Shanghai High People's Court, but did not attend the hearing. As such, the Shanghai High People's Court found that appellant withdrew the appeal and the judgment of the first instance became effective.
The author is attorney in law of Unitalen law firm, one of the largest intellectual property law firms in China. The views expressed here are his own.
