Two Chinese companies compensate to Adidas for unfair competition

Recently the Hunan Higher People's Court made the final decision on the case in which Adidas-Salamon AG sued two Chinese companies in Shanghai for unfair competition. The court ruled that the two defendants should compensate 250,000 RMB yuan to Adidas-Salamon AG.

Adidas-Salamon AG is a well-known manufacture of sports goods. A person other than involved in the case registered a company in US named "美国阿迪达斯国际集团有限公司" (American Adidas International Group Co. Ltd.). The person licensed Shanghai An'dao Sports Goods Co. Ltd. and the third party An'dao Shoes Company to use his registered trademark "ACCEPTER." At the same time, the two licensees marked the words "美国阿迪达斯国际集团有限公司授权" (Authorized by American Adidas International Group Co. Ltd.) on the packages of the sports shoes. When Liu, a retailer in Changsha of Hunan Province, sold the shoes, he was requested to use the words "美国阿迪达斯"(American Adidas), which was conspicuously shown on the signboard of his store.

Then Adidas-Salamon AG institute a proceeding against Shanghai An'dao Sports Goods Co. Ltd. and Liu. In reaction, Liu immediately stopped selling the infringing sports goods and reached amicable settlement with the plaintiff. After the first instance, Shanghai An'dao Sports Goods Co. Ltd. appealed to the Hunan Higher People's Court.

The court held that the two companies in Shanghai have used the reputation of "adidas" for unfair competition. Therefore, the court ruled that the two companies in Shanghai should immediately stop the act of unfair competition against Adidas-Salamon AG and compensate 250,000 RMB yuan for the plaintiff's loss.