Copycat brands are very common, but have you ever registered 17 companies pretending to be the same brand in one breath? Alibaba's Tmall suffered such a copycat storm. Since January 2015, 17 fake Tmall companies such as "Tmall Investment", "Tmall Cosmetics", "Tmall Appliances", "Tmall Jewelry" and "Tmall Biotechnology" have emerged in Guangdong. Great confusion.


On December 19, 2017, after Alibaba and Tmall sued, the Intermediate People’s Court of Hangzhou City, Zhejiang Province issued a civil ruling requesting the 17 defendants to immediately stop using business names with the words “Tmall” in commercial activities. And within 15 days from the effective date of the ruling, apply to the department of industry and commerce to change the name of the enterprise.


It is understood that the court issued an injunction in the middle of the lawsuit, requiring the infringer to immediately change the name, which is the first time in China.


Industry analysts pointed out that the ban imposed by the Hangzhou Intermediate Court not only protects the interests of the infringed enterprises, but also provides timely protection for consumers. Alibaba's rights defense this time has played a good role in demonstrating and warning against similar copycat infringements.

Registered 17 cottage "Tmall Company" in a row

On August 10, 2017, an organization called "Guangzhou South China Law Firm Co., Ltd." caused quite a stir in the lawyer circle.


According to the industrial and commercial registration information, “Guangzhou Taobao Holdings Co., Ltd.” and “Guangdong Tmall Investment Group Co., Ltd.” as shareholders initiated the establishment of Guangzhou South China Law Firm Co., Ltd. on July 10, 2017. The legal representative is Zhou Shaowen and the registered capital Up to 10 million yuan.

For a while, rumors about Alibaba's entry into the legal industry became widespread. What is even more shocking is that behind the investment group is a huge "Ali", "Tmall" and "Taobao" industrial chain-from catering to electrical appliances, from cosmetics to jewelry, from biotechnology to real estate development , Covering almost every aspect of life.


With the fermentation of public opinion, Zhou Shaowen, the legal representative of the aforementioned companies, has gradually entered people's attention.


Alibaba’s investigation found that as early as 2013, Zhou Shaowen had maliciously registered the domain name "gz-tmall.com" related to Tmall, and applied for trademarks and domain names that were identical or similar to the brands of Alibaba Group through his company. Waiting to be listed for sale. Zhou Shaowen, who is engaged in business activities in the name of "Chairman of Guangdong Tmall Investment Group", has also established dozens of companies with the words "Ali", "Tmall", and "Taobao", among which is the copycat "Tmall Company" There are as many as 17.


An inevitable litigation battle started.


In November 2017, Alibaba Group and Zhejiang Tmall Technology Co., Ltd. formally filed a rights protection lawsuit in the Hangzhou Intermediate Court, and at the same time filed an application for a "injunction injunction", hoping that the court will immediately stop the relevant defendant's infringement.


Alibaba Litigation Attorney and Lawyer Qu Miao from King & Wood Mallesons said, “Considering that Zhou Shaowen and others may continue to commit infringements, relevant investors or consumers will also misidentify that they are related to Alibaba because of their company name. To prevent the relevant public from being deceived, Alibaba applied for an injunction to prevent it from continuing to use the infringing company name."


Hangzhou Intermediate People's Court issued the first domestic "injunction in litigation" requesting immediate name change

On December 19 last year, the Hangzhou Intermediate People’s Court found through investigations and hearings that the infringement group "Copycat Tmall" is likely to constitute trademark infringement and unfair competition. It also determined that it was urgent and necessary to order the defendant to stop the infringement. Necessity, therefore issued a "injunction prohibition", requiring the above-mentioned "Guangdong Tmall" company to immediately stop using the logo with the word "Tmall" on business premises and websites, and immediately stop using the logo with the word "Tmall" in commercial activities. The name of the enterprise with the words "cat" shall be applied to the department of industry and commerce for change of the enterprise name within 15 days, and the changed enterprise name shall not contain the words "Tmall".


It is understood that the aforementioned "cottage Tmall" company has signed and accepted the ruling on December 22 and 23 respectively. As a result, the time limit for the infringing group to apply for a name change will expire on January 8 this year.


The court specifically pointed out in the ruling, “Many companies controlled by Zhou Shaowen have registered a large number of domain names, trademarks, and corporate names related to'Tmall','Ali', and'Taobao'. In the case of corresponding rights protection actions and support, the alleged infringements continue to be carried out, which has obvious subjective malice, and intellectual property infringements also have a certain degree of concealment. If you continue to use these'Tmall', The company names of'Ali' and'Taobao' will be difficult to be discovered accurately and timely. Therefore, the defendant only promised to stop using the company name in business activities without changing the company name, which is not enough to effectively stop the possibility of non-compliance. Acts of fair competition."


It is understood that this is also the first ruling that requires the defendant to immediately change the company's business name in the injunction injunction issued by a Chinese court in response to a tort case. If "Shanzhai Tmall" company refuses to implement this ban, Alibaba will apply to the court for enforcement. According to the court's ruling and Article 18 of the new Anti-Unfair Competition Law, the industry and commerce department can unify social credit The code replaces its business name.