Judicial Determination of Trademark Infringement Liability in OEM Trade

——BURBERRY LIMITED v. Chinalight Ningbo Imp. & Exp. Co., Ltd. in respect of a trademark infringement dispute

[Abstract]

The defendant who, for the purpose of sales, commissions any other person to process and produce the asserted infringement commodity, should be deemed as a joint manufacturer of the asserted infringement commodity, and the act that the defendant commissions the OEM to use clothing fabric that has the pattern identical or similar to the registered trademark constitutes the use of the trademark on commodities. At the same time, the defendant which is a commercial trading company having long engaged in import and export on self-employed and agent basis, should have been more cognitive to the registered trademark claimed by the Plaintiff than ordinary people. In addition, the registered trademark claimed by the Plaintiff has been identified by Trademark Office of China as a well-known trademark with high profile. Obviously, the defendant failed to fulfill its duty of necessary and reasonable care. Thus, the defendant’s act of OEM commissioning constitutes trademark infringement. 

Judicial Determination of Trademark Infringement Liability in OEM Trade (I)

Judicial Determination of Trademark Infringement Liability in OEM Trade (II)