On December 31, 2021, the higher people's Court of Zhejiang Province (hereinafter referred to as the Zhejiang high court) made a lawsuit against Red Bull Vitamin beverage (Jiangsu) Co., Ltd., Beijing Red Bull beverage Co., Ltd. and Hangzhou Red Bull beverage Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as the three defendants Huabin) against Tiansi medical and health care Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Tiansi company) Hangzhou Lianhua Huashang Group Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Hangzhou Lianhua) made a first instance judgment on the case of infringement of the exclusive right of Red Bull trademark and unfair competition dispute ([2020] Zhejiang minchu No. 42): the three defendants Huabin and Hangzhou Lianhua Huashang Group Co., Ltd. immediately stopped the production and sale of "Red Bull Vitamin functional beverage"; At the same time, the plaintiff decided to stop the defendant's joint and several economic losses of RMB 100 million by using the words "tianhuabin group" and the defendant's joint and several economic losses.
After examination, the Zhejiang high court found that the Supreme Court made a final judgment on December 21, 2020, which made it clear that Tiansi company has the exclusive right to use registered trademarks for Red Bull series trademarks. The two trademark license contracts filed by the Trademark Office indicate that the trademark license period of Tiansi company to the joint venture company ends on October 6, 2016.
During the term of trademark license, the joint venture, as the licensee, has the right to use the Red Bull series trademarks involved in the case; After the expiration of the term, the joint venture company has no right to continue to use the Red Bull series trademarks involved without the permission of the trademark licensor Tiansi company.
The defendant's use of the trademark of Jiangsu hongniu bin, the trademark of Jiangsu hongniu and the trademark of Jiangsu hongniu bin, the defendant's registered trademark of Jiangsu hongniu bin, was still infringed upon after the expiration of the registration period of the trademark of Jiangsu hongniu bin.
The three defendants Hua Bin continued to use the "Red Bull" brand after the expiration of the trademark license term, which is objectively bound to lead to confusion or misunderstanding by the relevant public. In order to follow the principle of good faith, maintain a fair market competition order and avoid the conflict between the trademarks involved in the case and the business activities of enterprise brands, the Zhejiang high court held that the continuous use of existing brands by the three defendants Huabin after the expiration of the trademark license period has constituted unfair competition and should be stopped immediately.
In this case, Red Bull Vitamin beverage (Jiangsu) Co., Ltd. and Beijing Red Bull beverage Co., Ltd. are wholly-owned by Huabin China company. Hangzhou Red Bull beverage Co., Ltd. is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Beijing Red Bull company, and the three defendants are related. After the expiration of the trademark license period, Beijing Red Bull company and Hangzhou red bull company should subjectively know that the trademark authorization of the joint venture actually controlled by Huabin is defective, still sell Red Bull drinks produced by Jiangsu red bull factory, and there is a close cooperative relationship between the sales behavior and the production behavior of Jiangsu red bull.
Therefore, the Zhejiang high court held that Beijing Red Bull company, Hangzhou red bull company and Jiangsu red bull factory subjectively have the intention of joint infringement, the division of labor and cooperation relationship between the three is clear, and the objectively implemented production and sales acts cooperate with each other, which jointly led to the listing and circulation of the alleged infringing product "Red Bull Vitamin functional beverage", resulting in the same damage result, Therefore, it should be determined that the three defendants constitute joint infringement.
The three defendants Hua Bin jointly committed trademark infringement and unfair competition, and should bear corresponding tort liability. Therefore, the three defendants Zhang Huabin, the owner of Tiansi company, should immediately stop the production and sales of goods infringing on the exclusive right of Tiansi company's registered Red Bull series trademark, and support it according to law. Support Tiansi's claim that the three defendants Huabin stop using the enterprise name with the word "Red Bull" and change the enterprise name, and the changed enterprise name shall not contain the word "Red Bull". Considering the strong protection that should be given to well-known trademarks, the long duration of infringement, combined with historical reasons, the background of cooperation between the two sides and other factors, Zhejiang high court determined that the three defendants Huabin should jointly compensate Tiansi company for the economic loss of 100 million yuan due to trademark infringement and unfair competition.
The Zhejiang high court also held that the sale of Red Bull beverage (i.e. "Red Bull Vitamin functional beverage") by Hangzhou Lianhua Company without the authorization of the plaintiff Tiansi company constituted trademark infringement. Tiansi company asked Hangzhou Lianhua Company to stop selling the alleged infringing products, and Zhejiang high court supported this appeal.
