A.O.Smith (China) Water Heater Co., Ltd.’s litigation against Zhongshan Shimisi Cookery Manufacturing Co., Ltd. for trademark tort and unfair competition, handled by Grandall Nanjing Office was awarded “Top 10 Intellectual Rights Cases of Year 2015” by Quality Brands Protection Committee of Chinese Foreign-invested Enterprises (“QBPC”, with hundreds of famous multinational enterprises as members) of Ministry of Commerce in March, 2016.
Wholly owned by A.O.Smith Corporation (the largest world water heater manufacturer; listed on NYSE), A.O.Smith (China) Water Heater Co., Ltd., a leading enterprise in China, has entered into Chinese market for nearly 20 years with a total investment amount over USD200 million, and specialized in manufacturing water heaters, water filters and air purifiers. It has entrusted JIN Li, senior partner of Grandall Nanjing Office and his team to protect its trademark rights for frequent malicious tort and unfair competition cases in recent years.
The aforesaid case is a complicated one involving litigation against trademark tort and unfair competition, administrative litigation of trademark, and cross-regional jurisdiction of online shopping. Accepted by the court in 2014 and finalized in March 2016, this case has won a complete success through elaborate planning and conducting efforts in the whole procedure by Grandall lawyers JIN LI, TANG Hua and their team. As a result, the defendant must not only assume legal responsibilities of an immediate cease of tort and compensation for loss, but also alter its company name which shall not comprise “Shimisi” (equivalent of “Smith” in Chinese). The final results have won high praise from the client and aroused much attention among the industry, thus making this case one of the “Top 10 Intellectual Rights Cases of Year 2015” after numerous selections nationwide by QBPC. The honor is also a strong evidence showing Grandall’s profound strength in the area of intellectual rights law.
Senior partner JIN Li and his team from Grandall Nanjing Office have acted as perennial legal advisers for many Fortune 500 enterprises as well as large multinational enterprises, and offered professional legal services for M&A, investment and intellectual rights, thus accumulating rich experience. Moreover, many cases concerning intellectual rights have been honored as typical ones by Shanghai court system and Guizhou civil and commercial system.