Montagut Case Listed in the Top Ten IP Cases of 2005

January 25, 2006
On December 28, 2005, the Beijing High People’s Court announced the top ten IP cases of 2005, which include the Montagut case represented by Unitalen for trademark infringement and unfair competition. In three of the ten cases including the Montagut case, Chinese defendants lost their battle in the lawsuits.

In 2003, BONNETERIE CEVENOLE S.A.R.L., the proprietor of the trademark “Montagut” entrusted Unitalen Attorneys at Law to file the lawsuit against three local defendants for trademark infringement.

On the appeal after a judgment in the first instance, the Beijing High People’s Court rendered the final judgment to order the three defendants (i.e., Guangzhou MOONGBOY Trading Co., Ltd., Guangzhou MOONGBOY Apparel Co., Ltd., and Beijing Sanli Shopping Mall Real Estate Development Co., Ltd.) to immediately cease their conducts of trademark infringement, and to pay damages of RMB350,000 to the plaintiff.

Mr. Lumin ZHANG, the presiding judge of the Third Civil Trial Division (or the IP Division) of the Beijing Higher People’s Court, stated that, in the year of 2005, about 2,000 IP lawsuits were accepted by the courts in Beijing. In 2005 the number of the IP cases increased 40% over the last year, which is the highest so far in terms of growth rate of the number of the cases concerning trademark infringement.

 

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