Translator：Zhang Xiaotong

On the afternoon of October 19, 2023, Shanghai Landing Law Offices, in collaboration with the Legal Work Committee of Hongkou District, jointly organized a seminar on the theme "Trademark Infringement Litigation Strategy" at the Shanghai Landing Law Offices' Equality Conference Room. The lecture was conducted both offline and online, with legal professionals from several law firms and enterprises in Hongkou District participating in person.

Lawyer Li Rong, Senior Partner of Shanghai Landing Law Offices and Deputy Director of the National Intellectual Property Professional Committee of Landing, was invited to be the main speaker. Leveraging his extensive practical experience in the field of trademark law, Lawyer Li Rong elaborated on the strategies for trademark infringement litigation from various perspectives, including the legislative purpose and basic tasks of China's Trademark Law, relevant legal provisions on infringement of exclusive trademark rights, the legal significance of trademark use, identification of trademark infringement acts, defenses against trademark infringement, the plaintiff's qualification in trademark infringement litigation, and the civil liability in such cases.

Lawyer Li pointed out that the essence of determining trademark infringement lies in whether the function of identifying the origin of goods or services, inherent in trademark rights, is damaged due to the alleged infringing acts. By following the basic approach to trademark infringement litigation, with the fundamental consideration being the impairment of the trademark's function, accurate judgment can be made on whether the accused actions constitute trademark use, whether there is a likelihood of confusion among relevant consumers, whether the accused use has a justifiable reason, and whether the plaintiff's trademark is genuinely in use.

During the interactive session, participants engaged in discussions on issues such as whether the accused infringing signs are identical or similar to the registered trademarks, whether the categories of the accused infringing goods are the same or similar to those for which the registered trademarks are designated, and whether the accused sign's use is likely to cause confusion.