The Shanghai World Expo Bureau won its first intellectual
property rights (IPR) lawsuit on Monday, filed against a local real
estate company.
The Shanghai Honghui Real Estate Development Company was ordered
to stop using the name, logo and slogan of the World Expo 2010
immediately, pay compensation of 400,000 yuan (US$48,000) and a
fine of 50,000 yuan (US$6,000), and publish an apology in local
newspapers.
Zhou Hanmin, deputy director of the bureau, said, "The defendant
named one of its properties near the future Expo site 'Shibohui,'
which has the same pronunciation as the Chinese words for 'World
Expo.'"
Zhou also stated that the company's logo was similar to that of
the expo, and that it used the Expo slogan, "Better City, Better
Life," both in Chinese and English in flyers, on curtain walls on
its construction site and on banners.
The bureau alleged that Honghui used these materials in order to
profit from the Expo's name.
Honghui denies there was any violation.
"There is no similarity between its logo and that of World Expo
2010," said Lu Suqin, the lawyer representing Honghui. "Honghui got
approval for the property name as early as February 2002, and it
started sending out flyers with the slogan in September 2002. The
bureau, however, did not register its slogan and name until
February 2004."
Honghui also claimed the similar slogans were nothing more than
a coincidence.
"We never attempted to gain profit from the reputation of the
World Expo," said Ye Xiangqun, chief engineer at Honghui.
"The property was sold quickly because it is in a good location,
and sold at comparatively low price."
Ye did not know whether an appeal would be filed.
The Shanghai No. 2 Intermediate People's Court held the first
hearing on July 13 and announced its findings on Monday.
"The logo of the property bears an obvious resemblance to that
of the Expo, which will easily confuse people or make people
associate the property with the Expo," said the judge. He also
found that Honghui's use of the slogan violated the copyright of
the bureau and the name of the property created a false impression
of association with the Expo.
"Although Honghui started using the name, the logo and the
slogan before the bureau got them formally registered, they
continued doing so after it did, which created the infringement,"
the judge said.
(China Daily December 14, 2004)