Counterfeit “ARROW” “Dofiny” Bathroom Products Were Investigated, Two Businesses Were Fined

Counterfeit “ARROW” “Dofiny” Bathroom Products Were Investigated, Two Businesses Were Fined

Recently, the website of the Shanghai Municipal Bureau of Market Supervision announced that Shanghai Dabenxiang Intelligent Home Co. (hereinafter referred to as “Dabenxiang”) for allegedly selling counterfeit “ARROW” bathroom products. Ultimately, the enterprise was confiscated all counterfeit bathroom products and fined 80,000 RMB.

Counterfeiting “ARROW” With “INTLAROW

According to the administrative penalty information released on the website of the Shanghai Municipal Bureau of Market Supervision on February 10, the Bureau conducted an enforcement inspection of Dabenxiang after receiving a report and seized 261 pieces of suspected infringing goods in accordance with the law. After investigation, the company sold the toilet products and packaging labeled with the “INTLAROW” graphic trademark. This is similar to the registered trademark “ARROW” held by the right holder “ARROW Home Group Co.  And the outer package is printed with “Produced by Hong Kong International ARROW Technology Industrial Co.

As early as October 16, 2020, the trademark “INTLAROW and figure” of Da Ben Xiang was invalidated in accordance with the law because it constituted a similar trademark used on the same or similar goods as the registered trademark “ARROW”. In March 2021, Daimoto Elephant was informed of the problems with the registration of the trademark “INTLAROW and figure”, but continued to sell it. Its behavior has infringed the exclusive right of the right holder to register the trademark.

It was found that Da Ben Xiang purchased 9 models of sanitary ceramic toilets labeled “INTLAROW”, totaling 326 units. From September to December 2021, it sold a total of 65 sanitary ceramic toilets infringing on the exclusive right to use the registered trademark, with sales amounting to 22,620 yuan. The remaining inventory of sanitary ceramic toilets 9 models totaled 261, the value of 149,800 yuan, and the total amount of illegal business is 172,420 yuan.

The Shanghai Municipal Bureau of Market Supervision ordered the company to immediately stop the infringement and imposed the following penalties: confiscation of 261 infringing sanitary ceramics toilets; and a fine of RMB 80,000.

Counterfeit “Dofiny” Bathroom Products Cases Have Also Been Exposed

On February 19, Jining Market Supervision Bureau exposed the typical counterfeiting cases in the past year in the form of “Exposure Table of Combating Counterfeiting Cases” in the public number, and one of the cases involved enterprises allegedly selling counterfeit Huida’s “Dofiny” brand bathroom products.

According to the report, on March 16, 2021, the Jinxiang Branch of Jining Market Supervision Bureau received a report from the owner of the “Dofiny” bathroom trademark, Tangshan Ayers Sanitary Ware Co. They claim that the bathroom sold by a sanitary ware store in Jinxiang County infringes the exclusive right of its company “DOFINY” registered trademark.

After investigation, the owner of the “DOFINY” bathroom trademark, Tangshan Ayers Sanitary Ware Co., Ltd. identified that the “DOFINY” bathroom products sold by the parties concerned were not the products authorized to be produced and sold by the trademark owner, Tangshan Ayers Sanitary Ware Co. These are counterfeit products of Tangshan Ayers Sanitary Ware Co.

According to the relevant provisions of the Trademark Law of the People’s Republic of China, the party concerned confiscated 9 flush toilets, 12 showerheads and 9 faucets infringing the exclusive right of the registered trademark “DOFINY” and imposed an administrative penalty of RMB 35,000.

It is understood that Dofiny is one of the two core brands of Huida. According to the information published by Huida, Dofiny bathroom brand stores have reached 555 as of December 31, 2019. It has greater visibility in the market.

Many Sanitary Enterprises Included In The “Key Intellectual Property Protection List“

In recent years, China’s laws and regulations around the protection of intellectual property rights have gradually improved, and the trademark law, patent law and copyright law have been revised to set punitive damages for infringement. They have also increased the upper limit of statutory damages and intensified the fight against IPR infringement.

For example, the Trademark Law amended in 2013 added the application for registration of sound trademarks, the Anti-Unfair Competition Law amended in 2019 refined the types of infringement of trade secrets, the Patent Law amended in 2020 extended the term of patent protection for designs, and the Copyright Law amended in the same year even opened up the types of works. This leaves room for new types of works that may emerge in the future. In 2022, a number of new regulations such as the Trademark Examination and Trial Guidelines, the Standards for Judging General Trademark Violations and the Notice on Revision of Trademark Book Form also came into force. The construction of laws and regulations around trademark and intellectual property protection was further improved.

In addition, market supervision authorities (Intellectual Property Office) across the country have also strengthened the protection of the intellectual property rights of enterprises. In Foshan, an important sanitary ware production area, for example, the local market supervision bureau issued a “key intellectual property protection list” last year. Two batches of the list have been made public, HEGII, Dongpeng whole bathroom, Lehua, Anhua, Faenza, SSWW, TENNE and other enterprises are included. For enterprises entering the list, Foshan Market Supervision Bureau will protect and enforce administrative protection through intellectual property monitoring and early warning. They will strengthen the protection of enterprise knowledge-producing areas in all aspects while providing support in policies, projects and funds.