On Jan 21, 2021, Beijing Intellectual Property Court announced
its decision in a trademark infringement case between 2 plaintiffs,
Shell International and Shell China, and 5 defendants, including 3
Chinese companies Beike (North Shell) Compay, Jianchi Company,
Annaichi Company and 2 Chinese individuals, Song and Wang.
The court found that Beike and Jianchi made and sold lubricants
bearing signs of “壳喜” and
“牌力”. These signs when read vertically
are the same as Shell's trademarks
“壳牌" and "喜力”.
Therefore, the court found Beike and Jianchi constituted trademark
infringement acts. The court also found Song and Wang are married
and have actual control of Beike Jianchi and Annaichi. Annaichi,
Song and Wang constituted join infringement.
In this case, the plaintiff did not provide direct evidence to
prove its economic losses, nor was it possible to determine the
specific amount of the defendant's benefit from the
infringement. The court awarded a statutory damage of RMB 5million
(around USD 770,000) and reasonable expensed of RMB500,000 (around
USD77,000).
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