Trademark Lawsuit
(source: Hsin Tung Yang’s official website)
The brand name Hsin Tung Yang is famous among tourists from China, and many Chinese tourists buy Hsin Tung Yang products as souvenirs. Hsin Tung Yang had not been able to sell their products in China because of an issue with the trademark right. A few years ago, Hsin Tung Yang had regained the trademark right from the brother of the firm’s founder, Shi-Lai Mo. He made an attempt to expand their business to China, but the brothers departed in their ideas of management later on. Hsin Tung Yang later found out that Shi-Lai, Mo had registered the name of Hsin Tung Yang in China as their trademark. The quality of the goods selling in China is much worse compared to those in Taiwan, and it affected the reputation of Hsin Tung Yang. Also, the Hsin Tung Yang in Taiwan was not able to enter the Chinese business market with the name of Hsin Tung Yang. Hsin Tung Yang tried different approaches to regain their trademark. At the end, Beijing High Court announced that Hsin Tung Yang won the case and regained their trademark in 2012.
There are many well-known manufacturers in Taiwan who want to enter the Chinese market, but the trademarks of many firms have been maliciously registered and used; this not only affects the firms’ reputation, but it could also suspend their business expansion plan or involve lawsuits. The lawsuit of Hsin Tung Yang’s trademark right, as an example, took around 12 years.
Furthermore, Hsin Tung Yang’s reputation in China was negatively affected because the Hsin Tung Yang in Shanghai founded by Shi-Lai Mo had sold expired rice pudding. The two different firms confused consumers because they were registered under the same name. Hsin Tung Yang has regained the trademark right of Hsin Tung Yang for years now. Therefore, Hsin Tung Yang in Shanghai no longer holds the trademark right of the firm in China, and Hsin Tung Yang in Shanghai no longer exists.
By Andre