American Sun Tiger Company, the owner of the brand "Eagle Eyes鹰视", have ever been a good business partner with Beijing Oriental Weiyi Science and Technology Co., Ltd. (Weiyi Company), its former franchiser in China. However, a trademark named "鹰视" brought both sides to court and turned them one against each other.

Recently, the Supreme People's Court heard the case, ruled "鹰视" and "Eagle Eyes" constituted trademark similarity, and rejected Weiyi Company's appeal.

Trademark "鹰视" triggered the dispute

The No. 3583073 trademark "鹰视" was applied for registration by Weiyi Company in June, 2003, and approved in December, 2004, certified to be used on Class 9, glasses, contact lenses,ect.

In July, 2002, the two company signed an agreement on sales and distribution, according to which, the Sun Tiger Company authorized Weiyi Company the exclusive right of selling its products in China and permitted Weiyi to use the trademark "Eagle Eyes". The agreement lasts five years.

It's the agreement that made the Sun Tiger Company believe Weiyi Company violated the relevant provisions of the current Trademark Law. 

According to the Sun Tiger Company, "鹰视", as one translation version of its trademark "Eagle Eyes", had been in correspondence with "Eagle Eyes", and constituted trademark infringement.

Weiyi denied the trademark correspondence

"We are the prior applicants and users of the trademark ‘鹰视'", said Liu Jutao, the general manager of Weiyi Company, who argued that "鹰视" was not the unique translation version of "Eagle Eyes". Meanwhile, he said the company's first choice was "鹰眼" rather than "鹰视".

It's known that Weiyi Company planned to apply for the trademark "鹰眼" over ten years ago. However, it subsequently applied for "鹰视" when finding that "鹰眼" had been registered. Up to the dispute, the trademark "鹰视" had been used for almost five years.

In July 2011, the Trademark Appeal Board revoked the trademark "鹰视". Dissatisfied, Weiyi Company made an appeal to the Beijing No.1 Intermediate People's Court.

The court held that the trademark "Eagle Eyes" could be translated as "鹰眼" in Chinese. As "鹰视" has similar meaning as "鹰眼", similarity was constituted. Hence, the court upheld the Trademark Appeal Board's ruling.

Disgruntled Weiyi then appealed to the Supreme People's Court.

The Supreme People's Court held that Weiyi Company had known the trademark "Eagle Eyes" before registering "鹰视" based on the agreement Weiyi signed with Sun Tiger. Moreover, from the No. 3177751 trademark "Eagle Eyes 鹰视及图" that Weiyi Company applied for registration, the court held that Weiyi Company itself had approved the correspondence between "Eagle Eyes" and "鹰视". Hence, the court rejected Weiyi's appeal.

(China IP News)