Mr. Huang won the first trial of "MDI" trademark civil case for Taiwan Fulong Company,

　　Recently, in the case of trademark infringement dispute between Taiwan Fulong Advanced Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Fulong Company) and Jiangyin Gaoyi Machinery Industry Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Gaoyi Company) represented by Lawyer Huang Jibao, Fulong Company has won the first trial and reached a settlement in the second trial at the sincere request of Gaoyi Company. Gaoyi Company paid compensation for infringement, and Fulong Company withdrew the lawsuit.
 

    1、 Case background and first instance

      Founded in Tainan, Taiwan, in 1978, Fulong focuses on the research, development and production of office furniture accessories, and has become one of the world's leading suppliers of air pressure rods. Fulong Company has registered a series of trademarks on products such as Class 7 air bar, including No. 3735040 "MDI" trademark. For many years, Fulong Company has always insisted on promoting the brand through various exhibitions and other ways. The trademark has accumulated high goodwill and is recognized by furniture suppliers and manufacturers. When Fulong Company investigated the domestic market, it was found that Gaoyi Company claimed that it had obtained the permission of Fulong Company, and the air bar produced by it was marked with "MDI" logo, which was the same as the products of Fulong Company, leading to confusion among consumers, damaging the goodwill of Fulong Company, and infringing the exclusive right to use the trademark of Fulong Company. Therefore, it sued Wuxi Intermediate People's Court.

      During the trial, the court, based on the evidence and opinions of both parties, decided to support most of the litigation claims of Fulong Company: Gaoyi Company stopped the infringement; Gaoyi Company has published the statement of eliminating the impact on the front page of its official website for 30 consecutive days since the effective date of the judgment (the content has been reviewed by the court); Compensation for economic losses of 300000 yuan and reasonable expenses of 51000 yuan.

      2、 A settlement was reached in the second instance

      At the beginning of 2021, Jiangsu Higher People's Court organized a court hearing of the second instance. After the court hearing, Gaoyi took the initiative to find lawyer Huang Jibao, the agent of Fulong Company, and explained that Gaoyi's marking of "MDI" logo was also a recognition of Fulong Company's products, and Gaoyi Company was also a Taiwan funded company. Both of them knew that the two sides still had cooperation in the processing of air bar parts, and promised that trademark infringement would not occur again, The cooperation between the two sides should continue. In view of the fact that Gaoyi Company has recognized its fault and is willing to pay the compensation supported by the judgment, and the cooperation between the two parties needs to be stable, lawyer Huang and the board of directors of Fulong Company, after discussion, agreed to negotiate a settlement plan between the two parties, and finally reached an agreement. Gaoyi took the initiative to pay the settlement money, and Fulong withdrew the lawsuit.

     3、 Postscript

      Fulong Company has cleaned up the domestic "MDI" counterfeit products through trademark protection, and its position in the domestic market has been further stabilized. In 2021, under the situation that the epidemic affects the economy, Fulong Company will still achieve a double increase in sales and profits, which will exceed the performance before the epidemic.

      Fulong Company and Gaoyi Company reached an agreement through reconciliation, which also reflects their sincerity. At present, the two parties still cooperate in the processing of spare parts of air bar to achieve a win-win situation.

      In this case, Fulong Company chose to settle the case under the circumstances of winning the first instance and maintaining no suspense in the second instance, which is the best choice for the interests of customers. Intellectual property lawyers not only need to protect the rights of the obligee through litigation, let the infringer pay the price and deter the infringement, but also consider the overall business needs and planning of customers to promote customer profits and trading opportunities.