On November 11, an ordinary working day, the fairy tale king Zheng Yuanjie left a message on WeChat to Chao News reporter: "On November 10, I saw the State Intellectual Property Office's registration of Suzhou Gas Equipment Valve Manufacturing Co., Ltd. Announcement of Cancellati

On November 11, an ordinary working day, the fairy tale king Zheng Yuanjie left a message on WeChat to Chao News reporter: "On November 10, I saw the State Intellectual Property Office's registration of Suzhou Gas Equipment Valve Manufacturing Co., Ltd. Announcement of the cancellation of the "Shuke" trademark. My rights protection case against Suzhou Gas Equipment Valve Manufacturing Co., Ltd.'s "Shuke" trademark infringement was finally successful: the State Intellectual Property Office has announced the cancellation of its registered "Shuke" trademark "

, he sent a screenshot of the "Announcement of the State Intellectual Property Office on Cancellation of the Shuke Trademark No. 39662148 Registered by Suzhou Gas Equipment Valve Manufacturing Co., Ltd." and told reporters: "This is my biggest trademark protection in 20 years." A major victory! "

Related announcements from the State Intellectual Property Office (Source: provided by the interviewee)

As a friend for many years, the reporter knew that Zheng Yuanjie had something to say. So, we made an appointment to meet at a coffee shop in Wangfujing, Beijing.

Suzhou "Shuke" trademark case rights protection, The plot is as twists and turns as a movie

On December 15, 2021, Zheng Yuanjie said that the "Fairy Tale King" magazine founded in 1985 will cease publication in January 2022. This incident made him a hot topic.

On April 18, 2023, Zheng Yuanjie issued a "farewell letter" announcing that he would no longer publish any new works. As a result, he became a hot search again.

Yes, the Shuke trademark infringement case No. 39662148 registered by Suzhou Gas Equipment Valve Manufacturing Co., Ltd. is one of the "culprits" that "forced" Zheng Yuanjie to announce the suspension of "The Fairy Tale King" and publish a "farewell letter".

So far, Zheng Yuanjie has been very calm when talking about his "grievances" with Suzhou "Shuke" for infringing trademarks. He even joked: "The plot is very dramatic, a bit like a movie."

On December 23, 2011, Zheng Yuanjie and several close friends dined at a hot pot restaurant in Nanjing. During this period, a Jiangsu reader who was engaged in gas valve procurement recognized him and came to take a photo with him, and asked him: "Mr. Zheng, do you cooperate with Suzhou Gas Equipment Valve Manufacturing Co., Ltd.? This company The company's registered trademark is also '

'. "I was shocked at that time! My intuition was: I have been infringed," Zheng Yuanjie recalled.

On April 28, 2019, Zheng Yuanjie submitted an application for invalidation of Shuke trademarks No. 11780170, 11780101 and 11780047 to the State Intellectual Property Office. In this case, Zheng Yuanjie claimed that the trademark name “Suzhou Gas Equipment Valve Manufacturing Co., Ltd.” infringed upon his prior rights to original well-known literary characters. "I started writing the Shukbeta series of stories in 1982. By 2008, the storybooks in this series had sold hundreds of millions of copies. To this day, the books in this series are reprinted every three months. The influence of well-known literary characters Covering all fields." Zheng Yuanjie told reporters, "The trademark of 'Suzhou Gas Equipment Valve Manufacturing Co., Ltd.' was registered after that."

On April 28, 2020, the State Intellectual Property Office Zheng Yuanjie’s application for rights protection was rejected on the grounds that fairy tales and gas valves are far apart.

Zheng Yuanjie once wrote in the 10-volume "Biography of Shuke Beita": Pipilu went to Germany and married a German wife named Yanni. "This storyline was originally arranged to pay tribute to Karl Marx, the revolutionary mentor of the proletariat and working people around the world and the founder of the international communist movement." Zheng Yuanjie said.

At one time, considering that the partners of Suzhou Gas Equipment Valve Manufacturing Co., Ltd. were German companies in China, Zheng Yuanjie made a decision after comprehensive consideration: not to prosecute Suzhou Gas Equipment Valve Manufacturing Co., Ltd. "Unexpectedly, this company went even further - after that, it registered multiple types of 'Shuke' trademarks in one go. This forced me to defend my rights again to prevent it from registering all types of trademarks." Shuke'." Zheng Yuanjie said.

On February 7, 2021, Suzhou Gas Equipment Valve Manufacturing Co., Ltd. registered the "Shuke" trademark No. 39662148, which is exactly the same as the character "Shuke" in the well-known literary work originally created by Zheng Yuanjie, without Zheng Yuanjie's authorization.

On November 30, 2021, Zheng Yuanjie once again submitted an application for invalidation of the Shuke trademark No. 39662148 registered by Suzhou Gas Equipment Valve Manufacturing Co., Ltd. to the Trademark Review and Adjudication Committee of the State Intellectual Property Office in accordance with the law.

On February 20, 2023, the State Intellectual Property Office made a ruling and once again rejected the rights protection application submitted by Zheng Yuanjie.

This is also the beginning of the State Intellectual Property Office’s announcement of the cancellation of the Shuke trademark No. 39662148 registered by Suzhou Gas Equipment Valve Manufacturing Co., Ltd. The reporter saw that according to the announcement, Suzhou Gas Equipment Valve Manufacturing Co., Ltd. was canceled for its registered "Shuke" trademark "all goods/services".

is of great significance, Chinese writers can create with confidence and boldness

Zheng Yuanjie admitted that he was deeply encouraged by the success of this rights protection. "This gives me great expectations for the future rights protection. Because most of the remaining 650-odd trademarks that have been maliciously registered are, like this rights protection, involving 'well-known literary characters whose influence covers all fields.'" he said.

Zheng Yuanjie also said: "I have always firmly believed that the State Intellectual Property Office is a department that protects intellectual property rights. It is not and cannot be a department that protects 'infringement' of intellectual property rights. As my country's protection of intellectual property rights becomes more and more intense, Big, I also believe that the national intellectual property department will take the initiative to administer in accordance with the law and protect the intellectual property rights of Chinese writers.” During the interview with

, Zheng Yuanjie also repeatedly emphasized: This announcement by the State Intellectual Property Office provides an in-depth explanation of the “Supreme People’s Court’s Rules on Trials.” The authority and rationality of the Provisions on Several Issues in Administrative Cases concerning Authorization and Confirmation of Trademark Rights (Fa Interpretation [2017] No. 2). "Article 22 reads: For works within the protection period of copyright , if the name of the work, the name of the character in the work, etc. are relatively well-known, using it as a trademark on related goods will easily cause the relevant public to If the party mistakenly believes that it has the permission of the right holder or has a specific relationship with the right holder, and the party's claim constitutes prior rights and interests, the people's court will support it. "Zheng Yuanjie said, "The characters in Shu Ke's literary works that I created belong to the 'existing copyright'. During the protection period, there are only a handful of well-known characters in literary works who are still within the copyright protection period. What would happen to us if they are not protected by law? "

" In addition, the important significance of my successful rights defense is that all Chinese writers can boldly create 'well-known literary characters' in the future, and no longer have to suffer the pain of hard rights defense like me," Zheng Yuanjie said, "This. Nothing can be better than promoting the prosperity and development of culture in the new era and strengthening the country's cultural soft power."

Zheng Yuanjie also told reporters that the movie script "Twenty-Two" based on this rights protection experience has also been completed. "My daughter Zheng Yafei wrote and completed this script. She is a top student graduating from the Film and Comparative Literature major at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)," he said.

What is intriguing is that during the rights protection against Suzhou Gas Equipment Valve Manufacturing Co., Ltd., Zheng Yuanjie changed the book "Adventures in Germany" in which Shuke and Pipiru went to Germany in "The Biography of Shuke Beta" to "Adventures in Germany". British Adventures". Globally, it is probably rare for an author to alter the content of a super best-seller due to trademark infringement of a well-known literary character he created. At the same time, Zheng Yuanjie also deleted the plot of Shuke going to Germany in the highly acclaimed theater movie "Shuke Beta Pentagram" based on his work.

"The Fairy Tale King" magazine is expected to be reissued

Zheng Yuanjie has always been a diligent and productive children's literature writer. From its inception in 1985 to its suspension in January 2022, "Fairy Tale King" magazine was supported by his creation alone, accompanying the childhood of generations of Chinese children.

“The success of rights protection in this case makes me optimistic that the day when the remaining infringement cases will be ‘victory’ will come early,” he said.

"If that day really comes, does that mean there is hope for the resumption of the Fairy Tale King magazine?" the reporter asked him.

"Of course!" he replied.

Once upon a time, Zheng Yuanjie told the readers through the media: "If all the rights of these more than 600 maliciously registered trademarks can be successfully defended, and if I am not 100 years old by then, I hope that "The Fairy Tale King" can be resumed."

Zheng Yuanjie said that this commitment is still valid today. "I am no longer obsessed with the matter of rights protection. As long as the national intellectual property department takes the initiative to administer according to law, these more than 600 maliciously registered trademarks will usher in the 'dawn' one day earlier."

Zheng Yuanjie, who was born in 1955, has passed away this year. 69 years old. As the "King of Fairy Tales", his classic images such as Shuke, Pipilu and Lu Xixi are loved by many readers. Over the past few decades, he has created more than 700 stories and developed a habit: getting up at 4:30 a.m. every day to write, 3,000 words a day, and he has remained unbeatable so far.

"Writing stories and letting my imagination run wild in the dead of night is a great joy in my life." Zheng Yuanjie said.

At present, Zheng Yuanjie has written more than 6 million words of the story that was "shelved". He also said: "Now all my works are published in Zhejiang Children's Publishing House. If all rights protection is successful, these more than 6 million words and at least 100 new books will be published in Zhejiang Children's Publishing House as soon as possible, and readers in Zhejiang can have a sneak peek."

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Source: Chao News