Popular advertising slogans make brand communication be ever successful. However, how to protect advertising slogans has always been a nerve-racking difficult issue for lawyers. Even after the advertising slogan “drink XXX if you are afraid of getting inflamed” received judicial protection, the application of law in this matter has been questioned by scholars. After assisting Ganten in successfully getting its “Ganten (Baisuishan)” identified as well-known trademark (extending cross-category protection to liquor and other commodities) in 2019, the IP team of ZhongYin (Shenzhen) once again assisted Ganten in successfully protecting its advertising slogan “Premium water: Ganten (Baisuishan)” and receiving damages RMB600,000 therefor in 2020.

Established in Shenzhen in 1992, Ganten is a conglomerate focusing on the production and sale of packaged drinking water. After its successful commercial operation, its product “Premium water: Ganten (Baisuishan)” has become highly recognized in the industry, and its “Ganten” and “Ganten (Baisuishan)” have been identified as the well-known trademarks for many times. A certain manufacturer thus turns its eyes to “Ganten (Baisuishan)” and “Premium water” and registered the trademark “Premium water” (“水中贵族” and “水界贵族”) first and use it (them) on barreled water and bottled water. Such acts not only blocked the stable connection between “Premium water” and “Ganten (Baisuishan)” and “Ganten”, but also robbed Ganten’s “Ganten (Baisuishan)” product of market shares. Ganten suffered from lack of timely measures to stop the defendant's infringement.

After ZhongYin (Shenzhen) took this entrustment, the IP team led by its senior partner Gao Jinghe systematically reviewed the theoretical analyses and rules of adjudication on advertising slogan protection, carefully analyzed the specific facts and evidence of the case, and repeatedly deliberated and demonstrated on various litigation strategies, and finally finalized the litigation plan: “protect the advertising slogan by identifying it as the unregistered well-known trademark”. After Ganten filed a lawsuit before Xiamen Intellectual Property Court, the team members took the initiative to repeatedly communicate with the judge of the trial on the facts and evidence of the case and the application of law in the case. After obtaining the initial approval from the judge, they actively cooperated with the court to mediate the case so that: the defendant stopped producing the accused “Premium water” (“水中贵族” and “水界贵族”) products immediately, transferred the trademark “Premium water” (“水中贵族” and “水界贵族”) to Ganten for free within sixty (60) days, changed its company name within thirty (30) days without containing words identical or similar to “Premium water” (“水中贵族” and “水界贵族”), and paid damages RMB600,000 in a lump sum therefor. Throughout the practice, by always upholding the spirit of craftsmanship “engagement, excellence, diligence and refinement”, and adhering to the work policy “proactively, pragmatically and efficiently resolve conflict to achieve justice”, the IP team of ZhongYin (Shenzhen) stopped the defendant’s series of infringements in the shortest time, which not only helped Ganten to achieve its expected effect of litigation, but also helped the court to achieve the social effect of closing the case.

The IP team of ZhongYin (Shenzhen) is committed to protecting foreign-related intellectual property rights and trade secrets and currently consists of more than ten practicing lawyers, patent agents, and engineers, many of whom have studied or practiced abroad in the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, and Japan, and are able to use English, German, and Japanese as working language. The IP team of ZhongYin (Shenzhen) has already accumulated extensive practical experience and successful typical cases in the fields of biomedicine, integrated circuits, new plant varieties, software copyrights, optoelectronic communications, and energy conservation & environmental protection.