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Harley, Bakers Prevail in Copyright Case

06 November 2012

Harley, Bakers Prevail in Copyright Case

Baker & McKenzie intellectual property team recently advised Harley-Davidson in a groundbreaking case in China involving the protection of copyright in the unregistered trademark, namely “Ha Lei in CC” (Harley in Chinese).

The case resulted in a victory for Harley-Davidson before the Beijing Higher People’s Court, which upheld the initial Intermediate People’s Court ruling that Chrome Horse and the various related parties (the defendants) have committed trademark infringements and acts of unfair competition (including false advertisements). The Intermediate People’s Court had ordered, among other things, for the respective defendants to stop using Ha Lei in CC as an enterprise name and to cease any false advertisement activities. The initial judgment had also ordered the defendants to pay damages amounting to a total of Rmb165,000 (US$24,000).

The High People’s Court judgment is significant in that, it took the view that due to the extensive publicity in China, the unregistered Ha Lei in CC mark has become a transliteration of Harley. As such, the use of Ha Lei in CC by the defendants’ store infringed upon Harley-Davidson’s exclusive right to use the registered trademark, namely Harley.

The Baker & McKenzie team was led by head of the intellectual property group in Hong Kong and China, Loke-Khoon Tan and associate Andrew Sim.

Baker & McKenzie Intermediate People’s Court

Law firms

China

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