Garments company ruled to compensate Lacoste for trademark infringement

Without any permission from Lacost S.A., Shaoxing Shulan Knitting & Garments Co. Ltd. labeled its garments with the trademark representation "LACOSTE and device." On 24 April, the Shaoxing Intermediate People's Court in Zhejiang Province ruled that Shaoxing Shulan should immediately stop the infringement and compensate RMB 200,000 to Lacoste S.A.

Early in 1933, Lacoste S.A. registered the mark "LACOSTE and device" in France, covering clothes and shirts. In 1980, Lacoste registered the figurative mark of a crocodile and the word mark "LACOSTE" in China.

In October 2007, Lacoste found that, without any authorization, Shaoxing Shulan labeled 399 cases of its men's T-shirts with the representation "LACOSTE and device" and declared the goods at the Shanghai Customs for export. Then Lacoste instituted a proceeding before the Shaoxing Intermediate People's Court, requesting Shaoxing Shulan to immediately stop the infringement, eliminate the ill effect and compensate RMB 500,000.

Shaoxing Shulan argued that the trademark representation used on its products was obviously different from Lacoste's trademark. According to Shaoxing Shulan, it neither sold out the products nor made any profit from the goods, thus it did not cause any loss or damage in business reputation to Lacoste.

After trial on the case, the court ruled that Shaoxing Shulan should immediately stop the act of infringement and compensate RMB 200,000 to Lacoste.