It is House of Butter, we had to follow up this story!
7 December 2023
Anchor butter may not be unfamiliar to baking enthusiasts. Recently, the People’s Court of Jinshan District, Shanghai publicly announced the verdict on a criminal case of counterfeiting the registered trademark of Anchor butter, sentencing the two defendants to imprisonment and fines respectively.
Anchor is a New Zealand dairy brand, with products sold well in over 70 countries and regions worldwide. “Fonterra?????” and “Anchor????” are registered trademarks of Fonterra Group and its wholly-owned subsidiaries, approved for use in Class 29, including milk, dairy products, edible oils, margarine, milk powder, yogurt, jam, etc.
From December 2019 to October 2020, the defendant WANG Mouhao hired Liu Moumou, Zheng Moumou, Cai Moumou (all handled separately), WANG Mouxin, and others (Mou means the part of name obscured) to package their purchased butter, cheese shreds, and milk powder in a warehouse located in a city outside Shanghai. Without the permission of the owner of the registered trademark, the defendant used the “Anchor” and “Fonterra” trademarks on the outer packaging, and in some courier packages, user manuals printed with the “Anchor” trademark were placed, pretending to be “Anchor” and “Fonterra” products, and sold through online channels, with a total sales amount of over 3.99 million yuan. Among them, the defendant WANG Mouxin, from March 2020 to October 2020, knowingly assisted WANG Mouhao in the “counterfeiting registered trademark” behavior by cutting and packaging butter without the permission of the registered trademark owner, involving a total sales amount of over RMB 3.99 million.
On October 28, 2020, the police seized 453 packages of counterfeit “Anchor” butter, 658 packages of “Anchor” cheese shreds, as well as a large number of “Anchor” brand cards, information cards, packaging films, etc. that had been labeled, with a total value of more than 30,000 RMB.
On March 31, 2022, the defendant Wang Mouxin was arrested by the police and confessed to the fact that he was involved in the crime. On July 6th of the same year, the defendant Wang Mouhao was arrested by the public security organs and refused to confess the facts of the crime. During the trial of the case, the defendant Wang Mouxin voluntarily returned 13,000 RMB from the illegal gains.
The people’s court, after trial, finds that the defendants Wang Mouhao and Wang Mouxin used the same trademark as others’ registered trademark on the same goods without the permission of the owner of the registered trademark “Anchor”, and the illegal operation amount was huge, which is a particularly serious circumstance. Their actions have both constituted the crime of passing-off of registered trademarks.
The defendant Wang Mouhao provided funds and played a major role in the joint crime. He is the principal offender and has no circumstances of voluntary surrender or confession. Therefore, he should be sentenced according to law within the statutory penalty range. The defendant Wang Mouxin plays a secondary or auxiliary role in the joint crime and is an accomplice, so he should be given a lighter or mitigated punishment. As the offender voluntarily returns the illegal gains, the criminal circumstances are relatively minor, and there is a sign of repentance, probation can be applied.
Based on the criminal circumstances, status, role, social harm, and attitude of confession and remorse of the two defendants, the court sentenced the defendant Wang Mouhao to four years and six months in prison and a fine of RMB 2 million in accordance with the law for the crime of passing-off of registered trademarks; The defendant Wang Mouxin committed the crime of passing-off of a registered trademark and was sentenced to two years and six months of imprisonment, suspended for three years, and fined RMB 60,000. After the judgment, the defendant Wang Mouhao appealed and voluntarily withdrew the appeal. At present, the judgment in this case has come into effect.
Judge LI Jing from the People’s Court of Jinshan District holds that China provides diversified legal remedies for trademark infringement, including civil, administrative, and criminal remedies. Through diversified accountability methods, it is beneficial to protect the civil rights of trademark owners, safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of consumers, deter potential criminal activities, and promote the normal operation of the market economy order. The crime of passing-off of registered trademarks requires three elements: 1 The perpetrator uses another person’s registered trademark without the permission of the registered trademark owner. 2. The perpetrator objectively carries out the act of using the same trademark as someone else’s registered trademark on the same goods or services. 3. The above-mentioned behavior of the perpetrator is only considered a crime if the circumstances are serious. The actions of the two defendants in this case fully meet the above conditions and constitute the crime of passing-off of registered trademarks, which should be punished in accordance with the law. The two defendants absconded after the other accomplices were caught, and were arrested after more than a year, ultimately receiving criminal punishment. While effectively punishing the crime, it also had a deterrent effect on potential criminal behavior.
(Adapted from news of the Shanghai High People’s Court)
Source:
https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=ea820655-bf01-462e-8345-257f6671ae19
