MEITU and MEIZU Constitute Similar Trademarks
Meitu company sued the National Intellectual Property Administration and requested the court to revoke the decision after the National Intellectual Property Administration disagreed to the trademark application of “MEITU” by Xiamen Meitu Network Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Meitu company). The National Intellectual Property Administration re-decided. On August 5, the reporter learned from the judgments website that Beijing Intellectual Property Court’s first-instance judgment dismissed Meitu’s appeal.
The case goes back to May 9, 2017, when Meitu company applied for the trademark of “MEITU” to the National Intellectual Property Administration. In this regard, the former Trademark Review and Adjudication Board of the State Administration for Industry and Commerce held that “MEITU” is very similar to “MEIZU” which registered by the Meizu Technology Co., Ltd in both letter composition and pronunciation, easy to cause confusion. Therefore, the Trademark Review and Adjudication Board rejected the application for registration of the disputed trademark on the grounds that the trademark No.24043417 “MEITU” applied for registration by the plaintiff has already constituted the situation referred to in Article 30 of the Trademark Law of the People’s Republic of China.
On December 19, 2018, Beijing Intellectual Property Court heard the case. The court held that the application for registration of the disputed trademark was rejected for legitimate reasons and procedures, and the plaintiff’s claim lacked factual and legal basis. Meitu company’s lawsuit was finally rejected.