26 Aug New Balance Being Charged 98 Million Yuan for Trademark Infringement in China
A Chinese individual Zhou sued New Balance for infringing his registered trademark. On April 24, 2015, Guangzhou Intermediate People’s Court made a decision in support of the plaintiff and held that New Balance should pay 98 million Yuan (about 16 million US dollars) to Zhou. This is the biggest damages Guangzhou Intermediate People’s Court have ever granted by now.
New Balance is a sport brand founded in U.S. in 1906. In 2006, New Balance set up a China subsidiary named “Xin Bai Lun” (???) and used it in the selling and promotion of its products through online stores, official websites, advertisement and so on. In Chinese, “Xin” means “new”, “Bai Lun” is a transliteration for the word “balance”.
Zhou is the owner of No. 865609 trademark “??” and No. 4100879 trademark “???” on Class 25 of goods like shoes, clothes, hats and socks and so on. Zhou also owns a footwear company in Guangzhou selling men’s shoes using “??” and “???” trademarks.