Case Brief

GILMAR S.P.A. (hereinafter referred to as "GILMAR" or "the Plaintiff") was founded in Italy in 1962 and officially launched the fashion brand "ICEBERG" in 1974. At present, "ICEBERG" apparel has become GILMAR's flagship brand, enjoying extremely high fame and reputation worldwide. In China, GILMAR owns registered trademarks No. 512611 " " and No. 18155310 " " for goods including "clothing" in Class 25.

A Hangzhou-based e-commerce company (hereinafter referred to as "the Hangzhou-based e-commerce company" or "the Defendant") sold a large quantity of clothing products bearing the "ICE" and "ICEBERG" marks (as shown below) in its official Douyin and JD.com stores. It prominently used the relevant marks in store promotions, product packaging, hangtags, and the like. In response to the above trademark infringement acts committed by the Defendant, GILMAR filed a lawsuit with the Xiaoshan Primary People's Court, Hangzhou.

Judgment Highlights

1. Trademark infringement established

The first-instance Court held that the Defendant used the "ICE" mark in store promotions and on various garments for sale, and used the "ICEBERG" mark on two styles of sweaters. The above marks served to identify the source of the clothing, constituting trademark use that was likely to cause confusion among consumers regarding the origin of the goods. Although the Defendant argued that a third party authorized its use, the rights underlying such authorization were defective and could not override GILMAR's prior registered trademark rights.

2. Defendant was ordered to bear the legal liability of ceasing infringement, paying full compensation, and eliminating adverse effects

The Court held that although the stores involved have been closed, to prevent the reoccurrence of similar infringing acts, the Court ordered: (1) the Defendant shall immediately cease the infringing acts; (2) publish a statement for three consecutive days in a non-gutter position of China Intellectual Property News to eliminate the adverse effects; and (3) pay full compensation of RMB 1,000,000 as claimed by the Plaintiff, including reasonable expenses such as attorney's fees, notarization fees and evidence-gathering fees.

Typical Significance

This case is a typical example of a well-known foreign brand successfully safeguarding its rights in the Chinese market against acts of "free-riding" and full-scale brand imitation involving obvious subjective bad faith. The Court fully considered the long-established global reputation and market influence of "ICEBERG" as an Italian affordable luxury brand, and awarded high compensation within the statutory damages range. This demonstrates China's firm stance on providing judicial protection for intellectual property in line with international standards and on equally and effectively safeguarding the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese and foreign right holders.