Date: May 3, 2016

A Chinese individual Jin A Huan (Jin) applied for registration of trademark 非诚勿扰 (You are the one) before the China Trademark Office in 2009 and obtained registration in September 2010 in respect of friend-finding and dating services in Class 45.

China Jiangsu TV launched a program named非诚勿扰 in early 2010, which has soon earned popularity and broke viewing records with their high quality production and a brand new dating content model.

Jin filed a lawsuit against Jiangsu TV for trademark infringement before Shenzhen Nanshan District People’s Court, which was dismissed as the Court believed that the use of “非诚勿扰” by Jiangsu TV in respect of TV program does not constitute trademark infringement due to dissimilarity of service class.

Jin appealed to Shenzhen Intermediate Court and the court found that the purpose, content, approach and target audience of Jiangsu TV’s program are all related to dating, friend finding and marriage-seeking, which is identical with the approved service of Jin’s trademark registration. The court also found that Jin had put its mark in commercial use already, while due to Jiangsu TV’s publicity and propaganda, the public was reversely confused. On the other hand, Jiangsu TV has earned substantial advertisement fees through the TV program, which shows they have made use of the mark for profit in commercial use. Therefore, the court ordered Jiangsu TV to stop using 非诚勿扰 as the program name.

As known, Jiangsu TV has requested for reexamination of this case.

Observation:

Due to the high viewing rate of the disputed TV program, this case has attracted extensive attention from the public. The court’s finding reflects that, in determining trademark infringement, the similarity of goods / services shall not be judged by rigidly following the “Guidebook on Similar Goods and Services”; instead, comprehensive consideration shall be given to the content and nature of the goods / services at issues. It’s noticeable that with the development of new business models, one item of goods or service could possess multiple features. Businesses should strengthen their protection by conducting full-scale trademark search to avoid infringement on others’ trademark rights.