Weekly China Brand Protection News

March 20, 2025

Court Recognizes “B.DUCK” as a Well-Known Trademark for Clothing Products, prohibiting the Defendant’s Use of Similar “G.DUCK” Mark on Thermos Cups

Recently, the Chongqing High Court made a final judgment in the trademark infringement lawsuit involving plaintiffs SEMK Products Limited (“SEMK”) and Deyin Trading (Shenzhen) Co., Ltd. (“Deyin”) against defendants Wenzhou Xiaohuangya Brand Operating Co., Ltd. (“Wenzhou Xiaohuangya”) and Huizhou Owan Information Technology Co., Ltd. (“Oowan”). The court recognized SEMK’s “B.DUCK” and design trademarks as well-known trademarks for clothing products and ruled that the defendants had committed trademark infringement, ordering them to compensate the plaintiffs for economic losses of CNY4.3 million (apprx. USD594,000).

Cited Marks

First, SEMK’s “B.DUCK” and design trademarks constituted well-known trademarks based on the following: 1) SEMK’s Cited Marks have been continuously used on clothing, shoes and other goods since its approval in 2011, with nearly ten years of use by the time the alleged infringing mark was registered and nearly ten years or more when the alleged infringement occurred, accumulating tremendous commercial value over this extended period of continuous use; 2) SEMK’s trademarks have received numerous awards since 2015, enjoying high reputation and recognition among relevant consumers; 3) SEMK’s promotions have been widespread, in-depth, and diverse, creating significant market value for the brand; 4) SEMK’s products have wide sales coverage, high market share, and substantial revenue; 5) t SEMK’s trademarks have been included in the provincial key trademark protection list. The CNIPA has cited SEMK’s trademarks as reference trademarks in more than twenty invalidation decisions and more than ten registration refusal decisions.

Second, the alleged infringing marks are similar to SEMK’s trademarks in letter composition, sequence, pronunciation, and overall visual effect. Given the extremely high recognition of SEMK’s Cited Marks, and considering that clothing, shoes, thermos cups, lunch boxes, water bottles, and cups are all daily consumer goods with overlapping consumer groups, the infringing acts could easily lead consumers into associating and incorrectly believing that there is a licensing relationship or affiliated business connection between the SEMK and defendant.

Third, the court applied statutory damages with punitive elements to determine compensation. Within the statutory compensation range, the court mainly considered the following factors: 1)  SEMK’s trademarks have high brand value; 2) Wenzhou Xiaohuangya had subjective malicious intent, including applying for multiple similar trademarks with obvious copying intention; and after SEMK took action to protect its rights, continuing the alleged infringing acts despite knowing they might constitute infringement, showing clear subjective malicious intent to exploit the reputation of the SEMK’s products; 3) There were numerous alleged infringing marks; 4) The infringement was serious, with many types of infringing products, wide sales territories, large sales volume, and long duration. The promotion and sales were conducted through both online and offline channels with broad coverage.

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