Luxury brand wins €600k in China counterfeits case
Italy outerwear brand secures triple victory against TM owner, manufacturer and online store | ‘Dual strategy’ proves fruitful in Hangzhou | Success part of long-term plan to tackle the international trade of counterfeit products.
Moncler successfully fought a trademark infringement case in front of the Chinese courts, resulting in substantial damages.
Hangzhou Intermediate People's Court has ruled in favour of Moncler, awarding the Italian luxury fashion brand a sum of RMB 4.7 million (approximately €600,000) in damages.
The case revolved around trademark violations committed by Quanzhou Yuan Lai Yu Li Internet Tech, the trademark owner, Meng Kou Yu Huang, the manufacturer, and Shishi City Yi Cong E-Commerce, the online store operator.
The dispute goes back to 2018 when Moncler discovered three Chinese companies selling counterfeit Moncler products online under the trademark ‘Mengking’.
These counterfeit items imitated key Moncler design elements, such as the "M" on the zippers and the distinctive blue and red colour palette.
In response, Moncler adopted a dual strategy, which involved seeking the invalidation of the infringing trademarks through the China National Intellectual Property Administration and simultaneously filing a trademark infringement lawsuit in civil court.
Moncler secured RMB 3.5 million in compensation from the trademark owner and manufacturer, as well as an additional RMB 1.2 million from the online store operator.
The verdict from Hangzhou Intermediate People's Court was upheld on appeal by the Zhejiang High Court.
Moncler has had a history of battling counterfeit products. In 2022, Moncler actively monitored online channels, enabling the brand to intercept nearly 81,000 online auctions featuring counterfeit products.
It also shut down nearly 300 websites selling counterfeit Moncler garments, delisting approximately 23,000 pages linking to inauthentic products from search engines, and removing roughly 87,000 sponsored posts, accounts, and advertisements from major social networks.
Furthermore, Moncler made about 3,000 seizures, removing approximately 145,000 finished counterfeit products and more than 130,000 fake branded elements from the physical market.
Did you enjoy reading this story? Sign up to our free daily newsletters and get stories sent like this straight to your inbox.
