Weekly China Brand Protection News

February 8, 2025

1. DeepSeek’s China Trademark Registration Status

Deepseek trademark owner is Hangzhou Deepseek AI Fundamental Research Co., Ltd., established on July 17, 2023. The founder, Liang Wenfeng, previously founded High-Frequency Quant, a well-known quantitative hedge fund that utilizes AI to analyze financial data and make trading decisions. The fund aims to identify price patterns from financial data, such as the “24-hour effect” and the “weekend effect,” which can serve as trading factors to guide investments.

According to the CNIPA’s register, Deepseek has applied for 48 trademarks in total. Among them, 25 trademarks have been successfully registered, while 14 are still pending. The registered trademarks mainly fall under Class 9, Class 35, Class 41, Class 42, and Class 44. The applied trademark styles primarily include “,” “深度求索 (DeepSeek in Chinese),” “DEEPSEEKCHAT,” and “求索对话 (DeepSeekChat in Chinese)”.

2. Full Compensation of CNY 35 Million Granted! Fake Authorized Online Store Engaged in Mixed Sales of Genuine and Fake Products, Infringement Profits Far Exceed Maximum Statutory Legal Compensation 

Recently, the Shenzhen Intermediate Court issued a final judgment in the trademark infringement and unfair competition dispute between Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. (“Huawei”) and Shenzhen Songling Trading Co., Ltd. (“Songling”). The court ruled that Songling committed trademark infringement and unfair competition, ordering it to pay CNY 35 million (USD 4.8 million) in economic damages to Huawei.

Cited Trademarks

The court found:

First, Huawei’s asserted rights included four registered trademarks and the enterprise name “Huawei,” which has considerable influence. Huawei provided evidence proving its exclusive rights to the registered trademarks “华为 (Huawei)” and “HUAWEI and logo.” These trademarks have gained high market recognition and strong goodwill through extensive promotion and use. Additionally, Huawei’s enterprise name “华为” (Huawei) enjoys protection under China’s Anti-Unfair Competition Law.

Second, Songling used the “Huawei” name in product sales links on the Taobao platform store. Songling highlighted the “Huawei” mark in promotional images for products like chargers, and the product models and specifications included the term “Huawei.” Songling also used the “Huawei” mark in the store’s banner image and in product promotional images for items like power banks, displaying eight-petal flower or “six-petal flower with reversed ‘E’ letter” marks, which are identical or similar to the Huawei’s “HUAWEI and logo.” Additionally, Songling’s images promoted these items with misleading slogans such as “Official Authentic Product,” “Huawei Full-Protocol Fast Charging,” “Huawei Super Fast Charging,” “Official Genuine Flagship Quality,” “Born for Huawei Fast Charging,” “Huawei Exclusive Pens,” among others. Since the products sold were not genuine Huawei products, these acts led to consumer confusion, making them believe Songling’s products came from Huawei or that Songling had an authorized relationship with Huawei, thereby infringing upon Huawei’s registered trademark rights.

Third, Songling, under a third-party authorization, sold genuine Huawei data cables. However, the authorization only proved Songling’s source for Huawei goods and did not grant them the qualification to operate an official Huawei store. Despite this, Songling falsely marked its store with phrases such as “For Genuine Products, Please Recognize Huawei Authorized Official Store” and “Huawei Authorized Official Store.” These acts were false advertising and involved the unauthorized use of the Huawei’s influential enterprise name, causing consumer confusion and amounting to unfair competition.

Fourth, the court, after considering the high market recognition and value of Huawei’s registered trademarks and enterprise name, the large contribution of Huawei-branded sales to Songling’s revenue, Songling’s malicious intent, sales data from Tmall (CNY 86.65 million), and the profit margin of 43.88% for chargers based on administrative penalty records, concluded that Songling’s profits from selling infringing products were enormous, far exceeding the maximum statutory legal compensation of CNY 5 million. To protect Huawei’s legitimate rights and balance the interests of both parties, the court ordered Songling to compensate Huawei with CNY 35 million for economic losses and reasonable rights protection costs.

3. Beijing IP Court Recognizes “Midea in Chinese” as a Well-Known Trademark

Recently, the Beijing IP Court ruled on an administrative trademark invalidation dispute regarding the “Dingmei DingmeL & Design” mark (“Disputed Mark”). The court held that Midea Group Co., Ltd. (“Midea”)’s “Media in Chinese” mark (“Cited Mark”) achieved well-known status, and the Disputed Mark should be invalidated for all designated goods.

Cited Trademark

The court found:

First, Midea submitted sufficient evidence supporting its claim that the Cited Mark qualifies as a well-known trademark under Article 14(1) of the Trademark Law (well-known trademark recognition factors).

Second, the Disputed Mark includes the character “美” (Mei) from the Cited Mark. More importantly, the applicant for the Disputed Mark also registered the  mark, which, when combined with the Disputed Mark, forms a symbol that fully contains “美的” (Midea) . Although this symbol results from merging two trademarks, Midea provided evidence that the applicant had registered multiple trademarks imitating well-known brands. This indicates clear subjective intent to imitate. Considering the high recognition of the Cited Mark, the court determined that the Disputed Mark is confusingly similar to the Cited Mark, constituting replication and imitation. This is likely to mislead the public and harm Midea’s interests, and therefore, the Disputed Mark should be declared invalid.

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