▲ The product involved. Picture/Internet screenshot
html On May 9, the topic #达利园responds to asking copycat Jay Chou to endorse # reached the hot search list on Weibo. This topic "disgusted" Dali Yuan and Jay Chou, but actually more than those were affected.According to reports, recently, a consumer in Shenyang, Liaoning Province posted a picture on a social platform saying that he purchased an iced black tea drink called "Liangying". Its image spokesperson "tributes" to the star Jay Chou, and the product design imitates Master Kong's iced black tea. , the advertisement is similar to the CCTV brand, and even the product name "Liangying" is homophonic with the name of a certain singer, which can be said to be the ultimate brand-likeness.
"Copycat Jay Chou" endorsed "Copycat Iced Black Tea", and his behavior is suspected of violating the Civil Code, Patent Law, Trademark Law, Advertising Law, Anti-Unfair Competition Law and other laws.
For example, the packaging of this beverage shows that the company commissioned to produce this beverage is Daliyuan Beverage (Liaoning) Co., Ltd., and "Daliyuan" is a trademark held by Dali Food Group Co., Ltd., and this trademark is widely used in the beverage market. Have a certain degree of popularity and be known to the public.
According to the provisions of the Trademark Law, using someone else’s registered trademark or unregistered well-known trademark as a font size in a company name to mislead the public may constitute unfair competition.
CCTV has also been infringed on its trademark rights. The outer packaging of this product is marked as "cctv advertising brand". "cctv" is a registered trademark held by CCTV. If the company involved wants to use it, it needs the permission of the trademark holder. Without permission, it is suspected of infringing CCTV's trademark rights. According to the
report, a person in charge of the company involved believed that it was "with formalities" and provided a CCTV advertisement broadcast certificate. The certificate shows that "(Partner) Gaizhou Xintong Beverage Manufacturing Factory's Liangying brand advertisement will be broadcast honorably on cctv7 and cctv17 in June and July 2023."
However, this advertisement broadcast certificate cannot prove that CCTV has granted a trademark license, nor can it directly prove that it has indeed been broadcast on CCTV channels. If the advertisement has not been broadcast on the corresponding CCTV channel and the company involved uses it for publicity, it may be suspected of violating the Advertising Law and constitute false advertising.
In addition, the design of the iced black tea product of the company involved is similar in appearance to Master Kong’s iced black tea, which may infringe Master Kong’s design patent rights.
The spokesperson for the product involved is actually Internet celebrity "Zhou Kou Jay Chou", whose real name is Li Feifei. However, the portrait on the packaging picture is not only very similar to the celebrity himself, but the name of the spokesperson also shrinks the word "Internet celebrity" and the word "口" is not prominent, which can easily mislead consumers into thinking that the spokesperson is the celebrity.
's behavior has been suspected of violating the "Anti-Unfair Competition Law" and also infringed on the celebrity's personal right to portrait and name; if the product may cause the star's social evaluation to be lowered, it will also infringe on the celebrity's personal right to reputation.
Judging from media investigations, it may not be the first time that the company involved has approached famous brands. In April this year, the company involved was sued by a beverage company in Tianjin for trademark infringement.
What’s even more outrageous is that the company involved said to netizens that the company was suspected of being a copycat of Dali Garden, denying that it was a copycat, and even claimed that it was contacting lawyers and preparing to sue. This can be said to treat the law as child’s play.
The destructive effect of "copycats" on famous brands cannot be ignored on market competition. No matter celebrities or famous brands, they have built huge commercial influence through market competition. A small number of companies try to take shortcuts and use side doors. This behavior is nothing more than profitable.
In this regard, despite many laws and regulations, some companies are still fearless. One reason is that the cost of violating the law is low and the profits are high. For regulatory authorities, they should intensify the investigation and punishment of this type of abnormal competition behavior, so that market supervision can truly have "thorns".
At the same time, companies or individuals that have been infringed can also actively defend their rights, not giving these "copycat brands" and "copycat stars" room to survive, and jointly maintain a fair competitive market environment.
writing / Ke Jinxiong (lawyer)
editor / Ke Rui
proofread / Zhang Yanjun
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