Case Brief

Gear Up International Limited is the owner of registered trademarks " " and " " for a globally renowned streetwear brand that entered the Hong Kong market in 1994. Gear Up acquired exclusive rights to the registered trademark " " in the Chinese mainland in 2001 and opened counters and specialty stores there in 2011. Since the 1990s, this streetwear brand has enjoyed global prestige for its unique design style and high-quality craftsmanship. In 2013, a natural person surnamed LUO in Guangdong Province squatted the trademark " " for "headphones" under Class 9 and registered a shadow company, , incorporating the trade name "EVISU", in Hong Kong. Subsequently, LUO and his wife squatted multiple trademarks including "Evisu" and " ". Starting in 2017, LUO and his wife fabricated evidence of trademark use through extensive "click farming" and promoted and sold the infringing headphones across platforms such as Taobao, Pinduoduo, Facebook, and their self-built websites, further expanding the scale of infringement. Since 2017, Gear Up, as the plaintiff, has continuously safeguarded its rights through administrative procedures, including objections, invalidation, and cancellation for non-use over three consecutive years. In 2022, the trademark " " squatted by LUO was officially revoked following a cancellation procedure due to non-use in three consecutive years, and Gear Up filed a civil lawsuit in December of the same year.

Ruling of the Court

The Shenzhen Intermediate People's Court ruled in the first instance that LUO and other defendants infringed upon the involved well-known trademark rights of Gear Up. Furthermore, their refusal to submit financial materials regarding the manufacture and sale of the accused products without justifiable grounds constituted obstruction of adducing evidence. Consequently, the court ordered LUO and others to cease the infringement, publish a clarifying statement, and compensate for economic losses and reasonable expenses totaling RMB 1 million. Unsatisfied with the first-instance judgment, LUO and other defendants filed an appeal with the High People's Court of Guangdong Province. In the second instance, the High People's Court of Guangdong Province upheld the original judgment. Given the significance of the case, following the public announcement of the verdict, the presiding judge provided a "Judge's Commentary" on the critical issues, and the High People's Court of Guangdong Province further invited renowned industry experts to deliver a public commentary on the case.

Typical Significance

This case marks the first time that the globally renowned streetwear brand EVISU has secured protection for its well-known trademarks " " and " " in China. Through a combination of civil infringement litigation and administrative rights prosecution, Unitalen not only effectively halted the trademark-infringing activities but also uprooted the squatted trademark that had persisted for over a decade, achieving a complete victory in both administrative and civil proceedings!