“乌苏”变“鸟苏”，难道是喝啤酒上头了？

2024-04-20 04:04

近日，最高人民法院收到了一封来自新疆的感谢信。信中，新疆企业乌苏啤酒有限责任公司表示，在该公司跨省到江苏法院起诉“鸟苏”啤酒商标侵权及不正当竞争案中，法院依法保护其知识产权，让自己切实感受到知识产权诉讼没有“主客场”差别。

乌苏啤酒图源：网络

The intellectual property rights of enterprises can be well protected wherever the infringement activities take place, a famous beer manufacture in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region said in a recent letter sent to the Supreme People's Court appreciating the efforts from courts in Jiangsu province in intellectual property protection and creating a healthy market environment.

The letter came after Xinjiang Wusu Brewery Co Ltd won a trademark infringement case tried in Jiangsu against a company that produces and distributes beer under the brand name Niaosu, the Supreme People's Court said on Thursday.

图源：南京市中级人民法院微信公众号

最高人民法院周四也披露了这个案子的审理情况。新疆乌苏公司自1986年开始生产乌苏啤酒，2006年起在啤酒等商品上先后注册“乌苏”“WUSU”等多个注册商标。经过其长期持续使用和宣传推广，乌苏啤酒在国内啤酒行业具有较高影响力，多次被认定为新疆名牌产品和新疆著名商标。

自2016年起至今，该公司一直使用“红罐装乌苏啤酒500ml”的包装装潢，红罐装乌苏啤酒在全国啤酒市场上具有较高的知名度。2020年，南京鸟苏啤酒公司臆造“鸟苏”作为企业字号，市场上出现与“红罐装乌苏啤酒500ml”近似包装装潢的“鸟苏”啤酒。新疆乌苏公司认为上述行为构成侵权仿冒，为有效打击仿冒行为，向南京中院起诉维权。

In August 2020, Nanjing Niaosu Brewery Co Ltd started to use the brand name Niaosu, which looks extremely similar to Wusu when printed in Chinese. Also, the design of the brand name and beer packaging distributed in the market both share great similarity with those of Wusu beer. Xinjiang Wusu Brewery considered that acts of infringement and counterfeiting.

“乌苏”啤酒与“鸟苏”啤酒对比图图源：江苏高院

南京中院一审认为，被诉侵权“鸟苏”啤酒使用的标识与涉案注册商标相比较，两者极为近似，易导致消费者混淆或误认，构成商标侵权。被诉侵权“鸟苏”啤酒的包装装潢与涉案红罐装乌苏啤酒虽然存在细节元素的差异，但整体高度近似。涉案红罐装乌苏啤酒包装装潢经长期持续推广使用，已具有较高的市场影响力和知名度。各被诉侵权人作为同业竞争者在应当知晓的情况下仍使用侵权包装装潢，客观上易导致相关公众产生混淆或误认，故构成不正当竞争。

The case was first tried in Nanjing Intermediate People's Court, the court found that though the design of Niaosu beer's packaging wasn't exactly the same as of Wusu beer, it could easily make the consumers confused and mistake Niaosu for Wusu, which has a history of about 38 years and is a popular beer brand in China. And the company has been using the current distinctive design of the beer packaging in red since 2016.

“乌苏”啤酒与“鸟苏”啤酒商标对比图图源：江苏高院

南京鸟苏啤酒公司成立于2020年8月，新疆啤酒公司的企业字号“乌苏”在其成立时已具有较高的知名度和影响力。双方属于同业竞争者，南京鸟苏啤酒公司在应当知晓的情况下仍臆造了高度近似的“鸟苏”作为企业字号，“搭便车”的主观意图明显，有悖于经营者应当遵循诚实信用的基本原则，构成不正当竞争。据此，南京中院作出判决，支持了新疆乌苏啤酒公司的诉讼请求。有关被告不服，向江苏高院上诉。江苏高院二审判决驳回上诉，维持原判。

The court also believed that Niaosu beer deliberately chose the brand name and designed the packaging that shared great similarity with Wusu with the intention of confusing the consumers and taking advantage of the influence of Wusu, which constitutes unfair competition. So, the court supported Wusu beer's litigation claims and asked the defendant to pay up 2.08 million yuan ($287,452) in compensation.

The defendant was not happy with the verdict and took the case to Jiangsu High People's Court, which later upheld the decision of Nanjing Intermediate People's Court.

最高人民法院指出，本案中，行为人将边疆知名企业有一定影响的商标、字号以及其他商业标识等恶意注册、攀附使用，造成市场混淆，判决对该恶意注册、攀附使用、混淆市场的侵权行为予以严厉打击，有效遏制了凭借他人长期辛勤经营积累的商业信誉和商品声誉而获取非法利益的寄生和掠夺行为，体现了严格保护的司法理念。

同时，该案在审理和裁判过程中，人民法院对不同地域的市场主体一视同仁、平等保护，真正做到无主客场差别，增强了权利人对知识产权保护及投资经营的信心，对于推进加快建设全国统一大市场，确保各类市场主体规则公平、机会公平、权利公平，稳定市场主体预期，优化法治化营商环境具有重要意义。

The Supreme People's Court said that the courts in Jiangsu have treated the local business and the business based in other regions equally during the trials of the case, which can help to boost entrepreneurs' confidence in protecting their intellectual properties anywhere in China.

It added that the case is a good example of the courts' efforts to regulate business environment in accordance with the law. The courts will strike hard on acts of taking advantage of the influence of popular brands to receive illegal gains to help optimizing China's business environment.

乌苏啤酒公司法务经理从新疆乌苏赶赴南京中院，向卢山法官赠送锦旗。图源：南京市中级人民法院微信公众号

酷爱喝红罐“夺命大乌苏”的刘建表示，听到有啤酒品牌叫“鸟苏”的时候，感觉就是个笑话。他认为消费者是不会尊重和相信这些抄袭著名品牌商标和包装的生产者的。

Liu Jian, a fan of Wusu beer, said the consumers won't take the products seriously if the manufacturers chose to imitate the styles of other popular brands. "Niaosu only sounds like a joke to me."