Five intellectual property protection cases in Liaoning

True & false Honeywell

In 2005, Honeywell, the world top 500 brand, was infringed upon by a local company of Shenyang, capital of Liaoning, in company signs, product packaging and contracts. So Honeywell International Inc prosecuted Shenyang Honeywell. As the Shenyang Intermediate People's Court judged, Shenyang Honeywell violated the exclusive right of registered trademark and compensated 3,000 yuan to Honeywell International Inc.

Apple with wings

Founded in America, Apple Inc is famous for its products and the titular logo, an apple. In Shenyang, a computer company uses an apple with wings as its logo. And it alleges that it is the sub-company of Apple Inc in China. On June 2, 2005, Apple Inc bought a set of computer accessories with the logo of "apple with wings" under notarization, and then prosecuted the local company. As the court judged, the local company had to post a statement to eliminate the bad impact on the Internet, and compensated 400,000 yuan to Apple Inc.

Venus Shenyang prosecutes Venus Shanghai

In 2003, a ceramic company in Shenyang had the trademark "Venus", while a Shanghai ceramic company uses the same word in its packages and product brochures. Shenyang "Venus" prosecuted the Shanghai company. But the court judged that the Shanghai company had its own registered brand. Although it used the word "Venus", that did not constitute an infringement.

Professor accuses company

Professor Wang is a biology expert of a famous university in Liaoning. He has researched recombinant hepatitis B vaccine technology since 1995. Then someone invested to set up a company and hired Wang as board chairman in charge of drug R&D. In 2002, after seven years of research, "new generation hepatitis B vaccine" obtained a certification and a production permit issued by the State Food and Drug Administration. Then the company sold it to others with a price of 500 million yuan. Wang was hired as technical advisor. Wang thought he would be paid 20 percent of the 500 million yuan according to the law of promoting scientific and technological achievements. But the court judged that the achievement couldn't be recognized as occupational technical achievement. So the court rejected Wang's appeal.

Citizen accuses funeral home

A citizen surnamed Sun in Shenyang invented a new technique of printing portrait on stele in 1992. Years later, Sun found that a funeral home's technique was similar to his. He deemed that the funeral home infringed upon his patent so he appealed to the local court. After several cognizances, the court judged that the technique used by the funeral home didn't enter into the protection range of Sun's patent because it lacked one key technical characteristic.

(China Daily 05/25/2009 page11)