A Beijing lift company lost their lawsuit yesterday against the
South Korean electronic giant
LG Group for
trademark infringement.
The Beijing Languang Lift Company, also known as "LG," demanded 100
million yuan (US$12 million) for trademark violation compensation
and insisted that the Korean LG Group's two subsidiaries -- LG
Electronics Inc and LG Industrial Systems Co Ltd -- stop using "LG"
on its elevators and remove signs on products already in use.
But the Beijing High People's Court ruled that the Chinese
company's petition was without merit at a second hearing
yesterday.
The court said the Beijing company's name "LG" stands for the first
two letters of "Lan" and "Guang" in pinyin, which has a
different pronunciation and meaning from the South Korean company's
name which is based on English letters.
The court found that the Korean LG Group did not infringe on
Beijing Languang's trademark because of the differences in name and
the design of the logos.
The Chinese company declined to comment on whether they will appeal
to a higher court.
The Korean company also declined to comment.
The first hearing on this case opened at the Beijing High People's
Court in late April this year.
But the trademark dispute between the two companies goes back
years.
The South Korean firm intended to buy the trademark from the
Chinese Languang Company in 1996 for 100,000 yuan (US$12,100), but
Languang refused the deal.
The Languang Lift Company then appealed to the State Administration
for Industry and Commerce saying that the Korean firm's trademark
was identical to the Chinese company's already registered
trademark.
A
trademark review board gave a final administrative judgment in late
2000 -- ruling that LG Electronics Inc should withdraw their use of
"LG" and their logo on elevators and elevator products that were
made before the year 2000. But the Chinese company claimed that the
Korean company was still using the logo after 2000.
"The LG companies never used the 'LG' trademark on elevators after
it was forbidden by the trademark review board," said Zou Weining,
who represented the South Korean firm.
He
argues that the use of the logo on elevators was legal before 2000
because it was registered in 1997 at China's trademark bureau.
Languang's lawyer Yu Yaqin said the Korean company has made huge
profits through the production of lifts using the "LG"
trademark.
(China
Daily July 12, 2002)