Hotspots · Analysis

The second instance verdict of the first online game lawsuit against amusement park trademark infringement in China has been settled

Shengqu Games sued Nanjing Amusement Park's "Huachang Dragon Valley" for infringing on its "Dragon Valley" trademark rights. The court found the infringement and ordered compensation of over 1.6 million yuan. This case is the first successful lawsuit filed by an online game against an amusement park for trademark infringement, and has a demonstrative effect on intellectual property rights protection in the gaming industry.

It is reported that "Dragon Valley" is a role-playing 3D action adventure mobile game jointly developed by Shengqu Games and Shanghai Happy Interactive Entertainment Network Technology Co., Ltd. In 2020, Shengqu Games discovered that Shanghai Huachang Enterprise (Group) Co., Ltd. and Nanjing Jinsha Tourism Development Co., Ltd. were naming and promoting their amusement parks located in Nanjing as "Dragon Valley" and "Huachang Dragon Valley". In this regard, Shengqu Game filed a civil lawsuit with the People's Court of Pudong New Area, Shanghai, and submitted the preservation evidence on the contents of the "Dragon Valley", "Huachang Dragon Valley" Paradise and its related websites, WeChat official account, microblog account, Tiktok short video and other related platforms.

The Shanghai Pudong New Area People's Court found after hearing that the defendant marked the words "Valley of Dragon" in a prominent position inside the amusement park, highlighted the use of words such as "Valley of Dragon" and "Valley of Huachang Dragon" in the publicity, and registered WeChat official account and Sina Weibo account under the names of "Valley of Huachang Dragon" and "Valley of Nanjing Huachang Dragon", which infringed the exclusive right to use the registered trademark of Shengqu's "Valley of Dragon". The court ordered the defendant to immediately stop the infringement, compensate Shengqu's economic losses and reasonable expenses, totaling 1603000 yuan.

The defendant appealed to the Shanghai Intellectual Property Court against the first instance judgment. Recently, the Shanghai Intellectual Property Court made a second instance judgment (2023) Hu 73 Min Zhong No. 934, upholding the first instance judgment and rejecting all the defendant's appeal requests.

Industry · New Policies

The Regulations on the Administration of Network Data Security have been passed at the 40th executive meeting of the State Council on August 30, 2024, and will come into effect on January 1, 2025.

The Regulations on the Administration of Network Data Security consists of nine chapters and 64 articles, which are respectively General Provisions, General Provisions, Personal Information Protection, Important Data Security, Cross border Security Management of Network Data, Obligations of Network Platform Service Providers, Supervision and Management, Legal Responsibilities, and Supplementary Provisions. Among them, regarding the obligations of network platform service providers, the Regulation clarifies that large network platform service providers shall not use network data, algorithms, platform rules, etc. to engage in the following activities:

（1） Handling network data generated by users on the platform through misleading, fraudulent, coercive, and other means;

（2） Without justifiable reasons, restrict users from accessing and using the network data generated on the platform;

（3） Unreasonable differential treatment of users and infringement of their legitimate rights and interests;

（4） Other activities prohibited by laws and administrative regulations

On October 14th, the State Administration for Market Regulation issued the "Work Rules for Handling Fair Competition Review Reports", which aims to do a good job in handling fair competition review reports and strengthen the supervision and guarantee of fair competition review work.

According to the "Rules", the market supervision and management department shall publicly report the telephone number, mailbox or email address to the society. Any unit or individual may report to the market supervision and management department any policy measures suspected of violating the provisions of the Regulations on Fair Competition Review.

The Rules also encourage the public and news media to conduct social and public opinion supervision in accordance with the law on behaviors that violate the provisions of the Fair Competition Review Regulations.

The People's Government of Pudong New Area, Shanghai officially issued the "Several Provisions on Administrative Adjudication of Copyright Infringement Disputes in Pudong New Area"

If there is a clear copyright infringement dispute, one can request an administrative ruling from the district copyright authority or directly file a lawsuit with the people's court.

The Beijing Intellectual Property Court has released the "Reference for Handling Qualification Certificates for Foreign Related Cases"

On October 17th, Beijing Intellectual Property Court held an international open day, focusing on the achievements of intellectual property judicial protection, comprehensively reviewing the development process of the past decade, and releasing the "Reference for Handling Qualification Certificates for Foreign Related Cases" (2024 version). The 2024 edition of 'Reference' further expands its coverage to countries and refines detailed content, covering 18 countries across five continents.