Supreme People’s Court Upholds RMB 79 Million Damages for Château Lafite Rothschild in Trademark Infringement Case
Created on：2024-02-25 15:48
| On September 21, 2023, China’s Supreme People’s Court (SPC) made a decision on a 7-year trademark infringement case initiated by Château Lafite Rothschild, a French wine maker, against Nanjing Golden Hope Company and six other infringers. The SPC ruled that the seven infringers should stop their trademark infringement and unfair competition, and pay Château Lafite Rothschild damages totalling RMB 79.17 million (USD 17.97 million). | |
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The legal wrangle between Château Lafite Rothschild and the infringers dated back to 2017, when the former lodged a civil lawsuit against the infringers with Jiangsu Higher People’s Court for trademark infringement and unfair competition. In June 2021, Jiangsu Higher People’s Court delivered a judgment, holding that the infringers’ use of “LAFEI MANOR” and “拉菲庄园” (LAFEI MANOR in Chinese characters) infringed upon Château Lafite Rothschild’s trademark rights. Notably, the court applied the penalty rules in ascertaining the amount of damages, and consequently ruled that the infringers should pay a total of RMB 79.17 million (USD 17.97 million) to Château Lafite Rothschild due to their bad faith in taking a free ride on the “LAFITE” mark’s fame. |
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Unsatisfied with the first instance judgment made by Jiangsu Higher People’s Court, the seven infringers appealed to the SPC, which upheld the first instance judgment.
This welcome result shows that Chinese authorities are striving to protect brand owners’ intellectual property right and crack down on malicious trademark infringement and unfair competition. |
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