Recently, the Shanghai Intellectual Property Court concluded that the appellant Kanjian Music (Beijing) Co., Ltd. and the respondent Huanchang Network Technology (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. in the case of infringement of trademark rights and other unfair competition disputes, the first instance of the case was upheld in the second instance. The Kanjian company should immediately stop infringing on the exclusive right to use the registered trademark of Huanchang Company No. 21686468, and immediately stop using the word "Kanjian Music" in the company name, immediately stop using the "kanjianyinyue.com" domain name, issue a clarification statement, eliminate the impact, and compensated the company for economic losses and reasonable expenses of 300,000 yuan.
Huanchang Company founded “Kanjian Music” in 2013, launched “Kanjian Music” website kanjian.com, and launched “Kanjian Music” APP, providing music sharing and communication platform, copyright management and agency, song promotion and other services. Huanchang Company applied for registration of the "Kanjian Music" registered trademark on October 26, 2016, and obtained exclusive rights to the trademark within the scope of services such as 45 types of copyright management and online social networking services. "Kanjian Music" as a product name and website name has a certain influence and high popularity in the related industries.
Kanjian company was established in October 2015, using "Kanjian music" to register as its business name. In October 2017, Kanjian company's squatting of the kanjianyinyue.com domain name and set up an official website. In the official website, official Weibo, and WeChat, it also used many “kanjian music” logos, misappropriating the company website and promotional documents, causing public confusion. Huanchang company was repeatedly complained by third-party users because of it.
Kanjian company argued that the trademark application for Huanchang Company's claim for rights is October 26, 2016, and the company’s name was approved and established in the first place. It has the right to use the business name “Kanjian Music” according to law, and there is no unfair competition.
After the trial of the court of first instance, it was found that although the registration time of Kanjian company name was seen earlier than the time of approval of the registered trademark in question, but because the name of the company name "Kanjian music" is the same as the registered trademark of Huanchang Company, Afterwards, it was seen that if the company prominently used the corporate name on similar goods or services, it would easily lead to confusion and still constitute an infringement of the exclusive right to the registered trademark of the respondent.
Date: Jan. 9, 2020
Source: Shanghai Intellectual Property Court
