5 years of 8 lawsuits Xiamen Zhengxin tires and knowledge infringement battle in the end

On February 15, 2012, Lin Changchun, who was on the phone with reporters, was glad to show some relief. He said: "Jiangsu Chengtong Tire Co., Ltd. infringed the 'Zhengxin' trademark case and it was only a phased achievement of Xiamen Zhengxin 's intellectual property protection. Xiamen Zhengxin will fight for the protection of the company's intellectual property rights."

Lin Changchun is a staff member of the legal department of Xiamen Zhengxin Rubber Industry Co., Ltd. On January 28, 2012, Xiamen Zhengxin had new progress in intellectual property protection cases. The infringing company Jiangsu Chengtong Tire Co., Ltd. paid Xiamen Zhengxin Compensation 110,000 yuan. At this point, the trademark infringement case of Jiangsu Chengtong Tire Co., Ltd. filed on June 27, 2011 ended with Xiamen Zhengxin.

Founded on May 26, 1989, Xiamen Zhengxin Rubber Industry Co., Ltd. mainly manufactures rubber products such as motorcycle inner and outer tires, automobile inner and outer tires and so on. In 2004, the trademarks Zhengzheng and Zhengxin CST were recognized as well-known trademarks by the Trademark Office of the State Administration for Industry and Commerce. In recent years, companies appearing on the market as counterfeit new tire products, Zhengxin tire trademarks and new names have appeared from time to time, causing significant economic and reputational losses to Xiamen Zhengxin. Since 2004, Xiamen Zhengxin has been trying hard to stop intellectual property rights infringement, and infringement cases have intensified. In desperation, in 2007, Xiamen Zhengxin took up legal weapons, a five-year war of intellectual property rights protection began.

8 court disputes

Lin Changchun said that for Xiamen Zhengxin, protection of intellectual property rights has become part of the company’s daily affairs. In the past five years, Xiamen Zhengxin has played eight lawsuits.

In 2007, Xiamen Zhengxin received reports from distributors all over the country, stating that someone had used Zhengxin Tire (Taiwan) International Group Co., Ltd. as a product identifier and used it on tire products. Some sales personnel even deceived consumers and said that they were new tires (Taiwan) ) International Group Co., Ltd. is the parent company of Xiamen Zhengxin Rubber Industry Co., Ltd. Xiamen Zhengxin started to check and found that the company also used the "Qixin CZT Black King" trademark, through the participation, investment and e-commerce channels to implement long-term infringement. Xiamen Zhengxin will infringe on its trademark rights. Zhengxin Tire (Taiwan) International Group Co., Ltd. will go to court and win a lawsuit.

However, the original infringement case has not yet been completed and new infringements have taken place. Xiamen Zhengxin is not satisfied with the disturbance and is determined to fight the tortuous act in the end and embark on a difficult road to rights protection.

5 years twists and turns rights road

In 8 lawsuits in 5 years, Xiamen Zhengxin spent the longest time in defending rights in Tianjin. The case was full of twists and turns. Although the final judgment was successful, the obvious judgment was very difficult.

According to reports, in Tianjin, there are three companies that infringe Xiamen Zhengxin's company name and product trademark, namely Zhengxin (Tianjin) Rubber Co., Ltd., Tianjin Jinnan District Zhengxin Rubber Factory, and Tianjin Zhengxin Tire Manufacturing Co., Ltd. According to the relevant person in charge of Xiamen Zhengxin, these companies have no physical factories and no employees, but only obtain products from other channels, and label them with “positive new” logos for sale. The company's products are mainly sold to Shandong, Hebei, Henan, and other regions. The sales price is slightly lower than Xiamen Zhengxin's products, which has caused great losses to Xiamen Zhengxin's local dealers.

On February 16, 2012, the reporter contacted Gao Zikai, a lawyer of Beijing Tianli Law Firm. She is a lawyer of Xiamen Zhengxin. According to her briefing, in the lawsuit, the materials submitted by Xiamen Zhengxin Company clearly prove that Xiamen Zhengxin Company already has a certain market awareness before the establishment of the three “Zhengxin Company” in Tianjin. Its “Zhengxin” name has long been a relevant public. As far as it is known, it should be protected as a company name according to law.

In 2008, Xiamen Zhengxin filed an appeal against the above three infringing companies and the court placed the case on file.

In 2008, the Tianjin court ruled that Xiamen Zhengxin was successful. Soon, three defendant companies filed an appeal. According to the representative of Xiamen Zhengxin agent, at the time of the second instance, the defendant's agent categorically admitted that the three companies registered under the Zhengxin name did not conduct actual operations. The reason for registration was simply to prevent Xiamen Zhengxin from registering with the company. When the Tianjin Higher People’s Court conducted mediation, the defendant’s corporate agent voluntarily requested the cancellation of two of the defendant’s enterprises, but he would like to retain Zhengxin (Tianjin) Rubber & Rubber Co., Ltd. Xiamen Zhengxin could not tolerate such infringement. After the mediation was invalid, the Tianjin Higher People’s Court ruled that Xiamen Zhengxin lost.

After the verdict was handed down, Xiamen Zhengxin Company dissatisfied and appealed to the Supreme People's Court. On December 18, 2009, the Supreme People's Court ruled that Tianjin High Court should be ordered to retrial. In early 2010, the Tianjin Higher People's Court opened the court for retrial, but it has not yet issued a judgment. During the retrial, the counterfeit and infringing products still raged in the market. The verdict has not been resolved. At this time, it is difficult for Xiamen Zhengxin to apply for the protection of the industrial and commercial departments. Only the infringing products can continue to be circulated in the market.

In desperation, Xiamen Zhengxin acting lawyer Gao Ziyi can only communicate with the presiding judge several times. In the end, on November 22, 2011, Xiamen Zhengxin finally looked forward to the final judgment: all wins.

Why does the infringement never stop?

According to reports, in China's auto parts industry, various types of infringement cases can be described as blooming. Some companies that are suffering from infringement have not taken up legal weapons to protect their legitimate rights and interests.

Zhang Yang, general manager of Tianrun Crankshaft, said that the Tianrun crankshaft has also suffered from infringement of intellectual property rights. When the counterfeit and counterfeit products are very serious, the company will cooperate with the quality supervision department and the industrial and commercial department to conduct counterfeiting activities. However, there are not many cases of genuine resort to the law. Another person in charge of the company said that the reason why he did not go to court was because "the time is slow, and the effect of law enforcement is not obvious."

Xiamen Zhengxin Tire Law Department staff said that Xiamen Zhengxin infringement case finally declared victory. For Zhengxin Tire, it is indeed a huge victory. However, for some dealers, lawsuits have been played for too long. In the past five years, they have been suffering from unfair competition for infringing products every day.

It is reported that although the verdict was successful, the end of the rhyme was gone. The execution of these eight lawsuits was extremely difficult. At present, only a few cases such as Jiangsu Chengtong Tire Co., Ltd. have been executed and the remaining infringing companies have not been implemented. At the same time, the burden of proof, the amount of compensation is too small, and the enforcement of judgments is not strong, all of which are testing the confidence of enterprises in their rights protection.

"If you do not defend your rights, the harm caused by the infringement to the enterprise will inevitably become more serious. Therefore, you must continue to safeguard your rights and stop the existing torts." Faced with intellectual property infringement, Xiamen Zhengxin Law Department officials said. He hopes that the country’s laws will be continuously improved and that it will be able to crack down on infringement more effectively.