Case Represented by Unitalen Selected as "Top 10 Intellectual Property Cases of Chinese Courts in 2023" and "50 Typical Intellectual Property Cases" by the Supreme People's Court

May 21, 2024

On the morning of April 22, the Supreme People's Court held a press conference for Intellectual Property Rights Promotion Week. At the conference, the Supreme People's Court introduced the overall situation of judicial protection of intellectual property rights in Chinese courts in 2023 and the relevant situation of the film short video solicitation event for intellectual property rights protection. It released the Top 10 Intellectual Property Cases of Chinese Courts and 50 Typical Intellectual Property Cases in 2023.

The case "Trademark Infringement and Unfair Competition Dispute between Lafite X Winery and Nanjing JIN X Wine Industry Co., Ltd." (Civil Judgment of Supreme People's Court (2022) Zui Gao Fa Min Zhong No. 313) in which Unitalen represented Chateau Lafite Rothschild is selected as one of the Top 10 Intellectual Property Cases. This case is one of the 12 key intellectual property promotion cases. In this case, the People's Court protected the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese and foreign parties equally under the law, effectively combating the behavior of thumbing a lift and free riding, safeguarding the legitimate rights and interests of foreign rights holders by the law, and promptly responding to the concerns of foreign investors regarding intellectual property protection. The case reflects the important characteristics of judicial protection in strengthening equal protection and actively creating a market-oriented, law-based, and international business environment.

Meanwhile, the case "Copyright Infringement and Unfair Competition Dispute between LI X fan, Da'an City's YU X Grain Trade Co., Ltd. and Qianguo County XU X Rice Industry Co., Ltd." (Civil Judgment of High People's Court of Jilin Province (2023) Ji Min Zhong No. 127) in which Unitalen represented XU SHI Rice Industry Co., Ltd. and others is selected as one of the 50 Typical Intellectual Property Cases concerning copyright ownership, copyright infringement, and disputes over confirmation of non-infringement of copyright. The judgment of the case clarifies the differences between the protection intentions and protection boundaries of copyrights in artworks and the packaging and decoration with certain influence. It defines the different elements that need to be considered in judging substantial similarity and confusing similarity, which is of great significance as a reference for judicial judgments on copyright infringement and imitation of packaging and decoration.

 

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