A court in Beijing has recently awarded New Balance a rare victory in an intellectual property dispute, according to a report by the New York Times.
The decision by the Suzhou Intermediate People’s Court orders shoe manufacturers and sellers to pay $250,000 as a punitive measure for using New Balance’s trademark “N” logo.
In addition, the fine was brought upon the companies after they breached an injunction issued in Sept. 2016 that prohibited them from selling shoe products with the logo.
According to Amy Dow, Senior Global Corporate Communications Manager for New Balance, all five penalized companies were operating under the brand name, New Boom.
“Parasite brands are fast becoming the scariest form of ‘counterfeit’ within China,” said Dow.
Shifting stance toward intellectual property
Guizeng Wayne Liu, a senior partner at Yuanhe Partners, added that the court’s decision emphasized China’s determination to uphold intellectual property rights.
According to trademark lawyers, Beijing is starting to take intellectual property seriously as Chinese companies are now generating their own intellectual property which the country intends to protect.
“This is a good sign for New Balance in future trial cases to come,” Liu added.
For Charles Feng, head of the intellectual property division at the East & Concord Partners law firm, the ruling was important because, until then, courts in China do not usually rule in favor of damages in trademark infringement cases.
Furthermore, the case offers a good example of how conducting business in China can be complicated, according to the report.
Foreign companies usually enter into disputes with many low-quality manufacturers that make copies of prominent products such as iPhones or Louis Vuitton bags. In addition, manufacturers cleverly copy almost every aspect of the product and make slight variations to their brand name.
Some of the companies imitating New Balance’s brand include New Boom, New Barlun and New Bunren.