Feynman LIANG Patent & Trademark Attorney	Published on July 19, 2019

After months of litigation and mediation, French luxury fashion brand Yves Saint Laurent (hereafter referred as "YSL") reached an agreement with Company A in Guangzhou, marking a good ending of YSL’s enforcement endeavor.

YSL discovered Company A not only used the trademark but also filed more than 10 applications with marks similar to YSL’s trademarks. In May 2018, YSL started a lawsuit against company A before Guangzhou IP Court on the ground of unfair competition and infringement of its well known trademark, claiming damage of CNY 6 million (USD 882,000).

As the landscape of the case become clearer after a number of pretrial proceedings, the judge actively involves in mediation of the case and the parties reached a global agreement eventually. It is agreed that Company A should stop its alleged infringing activities in all countries. In addition, Company A should assign all the trademarks in dispute to YSL. In return, YSL agreed to stop legal action against Company A on fulfilling of the agreement by Company A.

It is indeed another indication that China’s IP enforcement became more brand owner friendly in recent years. For active brand owners in China, if trademark squatting and/or infringement is detected at early stage, more alternatives of remedies and tools are available in coping with the issues. In this sense, close trademark monitoring and marketplace monitoring is highly suggested for effective brand protection.

Photo source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yves_Saint_Laurent_%28brand%29