＂Martell XO＂ sued ＂Lu Yi Lan Jue XO＂ for being a famous brand.

　　Above: Products involved (Photo courtesy of the court)

　　Left: Martell wine (courtesy of the court)

　　Yesterday morning, in the Sixth Trial Chamber of ouhai district People’s Court, the plaintiff took out six bottles of wine, including one bottle of Martell XO and five bottles of "Luyi Lanjue XO" brandy produced by a liquor company in Fujian. It turned out that this trial was that Martell sued a grocery store in Chashan, Ouhai, a trading company in Wenzhou and a liquor company in Fujian for trademark infringement and unfair competition.

　　"Martell" company invited two lawyers as entrusted agents, and the defendant from a liquor company in Fujian did not appear in court. The agent of "Martell" said that "Martell /MARTELL" is a famous cognac brand in France. In 2016, they found that an online Taobao shop named "Lexiang Wine World" (operated by a non-staple food store in Chashan, Ouhai) was selling "Luyi Lanjue XO" brandy. The packaging and decoration of this product were similar to those of "Martell XO", and it was suspected that the bottle-shaped three-dimensional trademark of "Martell XO" was infringed. In June of the same year, "Martell" company bought this product in the Taobao shop and got a receipt with the official seal of a trading company in Wenzhou. "Luyi Lanjue XO" brandy is produced by a liquor company in Fujian.

　　"Martell" company told the court that it infringed on its exclusive right to use registered trademarks and constituted unfair competition, demanding compensation of 1 million yuan for economic losses, 300,000 yuan for reasonable expenses such as lawyer’s agency fees, and publishing a statement in the media to eliminate the influence.

　　"Martell" Company claims that it has registered a three-dimensional trademark for the bottle shape of "Martell XO" products in Chinese mainland, and enjoys the legal exclusive right to use the trademark. The so-called bottle body shape refers to an arched bottle body with an arc bottom. "Luyi Lanjue XO brandy products and packaging boxes deliberately imitate the packaging and decoration of the plaintiff’s Martell XO in terms of text, graphic arrangement and color, and consumers generally cannot find subtle differences, which will make consumers mistakenly think that it is the plaintiff’s goods or have a specific connection with the plaintiff, which is easy to cause confusion." The entrusted agent said that the products involved were sold in online stores with a wide geographical scope and the infringement lasted for a long time.

　　The legal representatives of a grocery store in Chashan, Ouhai, Wenzhou, and a trading company in Wenzhou all said that they had fulfilled their duty of examination before selling and had checked the trademark registration certificate provided by the manufacturer, but they did not know that the products involved would constitute infringement. And the appearance of the products involved is not exactly the same as that of "Martell XO", and the bottle of "Martell XO" is about 1,500 yuan. The products involved are sold in 99 yuan, and the prices are very different, which will not mislead consumers.

　　According to the agent entrusted by Martell Company, this is the first case in which they sued for the dispute over the trademark right of counterfeiting Martell XO. In view of the intention of mediation between the plaintiff and the two defendants, the court did not make a judgment in court.

　　Source: Wenzhou Evening News

　　Reporter: Zhou Beibei