A SHENZHEN-based dairy company, Chenguang Dairy, lodged a lawsuit against Wensdi, a dairy firm in Zhaoqing, accusing the Zhaoqing company of infringing on its trademark slogan that indicates its dairy products supply Hong Kong residents.

The Guangzhou Tianhe People’s Court has accepted Chenguang Dairy’s indictment and the case will be heard in Guangzhou soon.

Conflicts between the two dairy firms date back to the second half of 2016 when Chenguang Dairy found that most of the dairy products produced by Wensdi had signs on packages that indicated that the products are also available in Hong Kong, which means the quality of the products are guaranteed to meet Hong Kong’s standards.

Chenguang Dairy said that it had been using the phrase, “Supplying to Hong Kong,” to promote its products for many years, and the signs used by Wensdi would confuse consumers into thinking Wensdi products are from Chenguang.

According to the Shenzhen dairy company, the national trade office officially approved two sets of phrases as Chenguang Dairy’s trademarks March 28, 2016, which will remain valid for 20 years.

The two firms attempted to resolve the problem through negotiation, but the talks ended when Wensdi appealed to the national trademark office to invalidate the two trademarks registered by Chenguang Dairy.

Chenguang Dairy urged Wensdi to stop the infringement and to offer compensation for its loss. But the Zhaoqing company justified its actions as legal commercial behavior rather than infringement.

Chenguang Dairy demanded the Zhaoqing company cease using similar trademarks, but Wensdi did not respond, leading the Shenzhen company to file a lawsuit.

(Zhang Qian)