Sotheby's, an international prestigious auction house, recently started proceedings against another auction firm touting itself as 'Sichuan Sotheby's' or 'Sichuan Su Fu Bi' (pronounced the same as the former in Chinese) at the Beijing No.2 Intermediate People's Court for trademark infringement and unfair competition.

Sotheby's reminds the court of its ownership of the registered trademarks and trade names in Su Fu Bi and Sotheby's.  Sichuan Su Fu Bi, ever since its establishment, has conducted a number of misleading, exaggerating and false promotional acts in its business operations and used Su Fu Bi, China Su Fu Bi and/or Su Fu Bi Auctions in a visually-prominent manner on multiple occasions.

Sotheby's claims the Sichuan company's acts of using symbols identical or similar with its trademarks without authorization constitute unfair competition and infringe its exclusive rights in trademarks Su Fu Bi and Sotheby's.