Dunhill Sued a Company for Trademark Infringement and Unfair Competition

Recently Alfred Dunhill Limited instituted a proceeding against Guangzhou Dengxi Shijia Leather Products Co. Ltd. and Bairong World Trade Center for trademark infringement and unfair competition. The Beijing 2nd Intermediate People's Court has accepted the case.

Alfred Dunhill Limited owns the figurative mark "d," Chinese word mark "登喜路" and English word mark "dunhill," covering goods in class 18 and 25. According to the plaintiff, Dengxi Shijia, without any authorization, manufactured and sold a large number of wallets, purses and belts that bore the representation identical with the figurative mark "d." At the same time, the products were labeled with the representation that was quite similar to the plaintiff's registered trademark "登喜路."

In addition, Dengxi Shijia, founded in March 2004, used "登喜世家" which was similar to "登喜路" as its trade name. The defendant also related its products to Mr. Alfred Dunhill, founder of Alfred Dunhill Limited, and stated on its website that the manufacture of its products was supervised by French Denghaoli (Hong Kong) Inc. The plaintiff believed that such statement misled the consumers to confuse the sources of the products.

Before instituting the proceeding, the plaintiff complained to the Baiyun Branch of the Guangzhou Administration for Industry and Commerce. The AIC ordered Dengxi Shijia to remove the infringing contents on the website. However, the defendant neglected the order and continued its false advertising on the packages of the products.

The plaintiff held that the act of Dengxi Shijia should be established as unfair competition. Since the infringing goods were sold in Bairong World Trade Center, it was requested to bear the joint liability for infringement. Therefore, the plaintiff requested the court to order that the two defendants should stop the acts of infringement, make an apology, eliminate the ill effects and compensate RMB 200,000 yuan.