摹仿停产商品仍构成不正当竞争

在诺基亚公司诉深圳市诺亚信高科技集团有限公司（“诺亚信公司”）商标侵权及不正当竞争案中，广东高院在维持一审法院认定商标侵权的基础上，进一步认定深圳市诺亚信公司制造、销售使用含有“Noain 5310i”字样名称及装潢手机的行为构成不正当竞争，判赔300万。

In a case of Nokia Corporation (Nokia) vs. Shenzhen Noain High-Tech Group Co., Ltd. (Shenzhen Noain) for trademark infringement and unfair competition, the Guangdong High Court upheld the court of first instance finding of trademark infringement and further found that Shenzhen Noain’s manufacture and sale of cell phones bearing the name NOAIN 5310i constituted unfair competition.  Nokia was awarded RMB 3 million in damages. 

诺基亚公司在第9类手机商品上拥有多个中国注册商标，包括：

Nokia is the owner of multiple China trademark registrations in Class 9 for cell phones, including:

No. G1298220

No. 297227

No. 357902

诺基亚公司在其Nokia5310型号手机上使用NOKIA商标。该款手机屏幕的两侧有显著的色条（红色或蓝色）。屏幕下方紧挨着四个功能键，中间是圆形方角方向键，下方采用T9键盘设置。以下是诺基亚手机和诺亚信手机对比图：

Nokia uses its NOKIA mark in its Nokia 5310 cell phone.  This phone has a distinctive coloured bar (red or blue) on both sides of the screen. Four function keys are located immediately below the screen, a rounded square directional key occupies the center, and the lower portion contains a T9 keyboard.  A photograph of both the Nokia phone and the Shenzhen Noain phone is set out below: 

诺亚信公司在第9类商品上也拥有“NOAIN”(第11535129、11535098和6199979号)以及“诺亚信”(第6211776号)等注册商标。该公司被指控侵权的标识为：

Shenzhen Noain owns China registrations for the trademarks NOAIN (nos. 11535129, 11535098, 6199979) and 诺亚信 (NOAIN in Chinese) (no. 6211776) in Class 9. The company was accused of trade mark infringement due to its adoption of the following logos:

诺基亚公司于2007年9月获得5310型号手机进网许可证，有效期至2013年9月。2016年9月，诺亚信公司获得“NOAIN 5310i”手机进网许可证，有效期至2019年9月5日。

Nokia was granted a network access license for its cell phone model 5310 in September 2007 to be valid until September 2013. In September 2016, Shenzhen Noain was granted a network access license for its cell phone NOAIN 5310i to be valid until 5 September 2019.

广东高院在审理中主要围绕两个问题：

1. 被诉行为是否构成商标侵权；

2. 被诉行为是否构成不正当竞争。

   
   

In the trial, the Guangdong High Court focused on two main issues:

1. whether the acts complained of constituted trademark infringement; and

2. whether these acts constituted unfair competition.

法院查明诺基亚公司的第297227号、第5648806号和第G1298220号商标最早于1987年申请注册，其“NOKIA”和“诺基亚”商标被广泛使用和宣传。其中，第297227号“NOKIA”商标曾被认定为驰名商标。

The Court noted that Nokia's trademarks nos. 297227, 5648806 and G1298220 were first applied for in 1987 and that its trademarks NOKIA and 诺基亚 (Nokia in Chinese) had been extensively used and promoted. The registered trade mark no. 297227 NOKIA had formerly been recognized as a “well-known mark”.

尽管诺基亚的商标具有广泛的声誉，但被告在其手机上使用其（已注册）商标，其风格和方式与诺基亚的商标（见上图）近似，很可能使公众产生混淆。法院认为，无论“NOAIN”商标是否注册，诺基亚仍有权寻求民事救济，禁止诺亚信公司以摹仿诺基亚驰名商标的方式使用其后来注册的商标，从而误导公众。

Despite the extensive reputation of Nokia’s marks, the defendant used its (registered) marks in a style and manner similar to Nokia's trademarks (see above) on its cell phones, which was likely to confuse the public. The Court found that, regardless of the registration of the NOAIN marks, Nokia was still entitled to seek civil remedies to prohibit use by Shenzhen Noain of its later registered marks in a manner that would mislead the public by imitating Nokia’s well-known trademark.

虽然“Nokia 5310”产品在被诉行为发生时已停产两年，但法院认为其已取得了较强的显著特征，并与诺基亚公司形成了紧密的对应关系，其产品知名度和市场影响力并不会在较短时间内消失。此外诺基亚公司的“NOKIA”商标曾被认定为驰名商标。

Although the Nokia 5310 product had been discontinued by the time of the action, the Court found that it possessed strong distinctive characteristics that are closely associated with Nokia, and awareness of the product and its influence in the market would not be lost over a relatively short period of time. Moreover, the NOKIA trademark had been recognized as “well-known”.

诺亚信公司的“Noain 5310i”手机与诺基亚公司的“Nokia 5310”系列手机在名称、设计和装潢等方面均高度近似。被告明知诺基亚产品及其知名度，却生产名称、设计和装潢近似的“Noain 5310i”手机。法院认定其不正当、不公平地攀附诺基亚公司知名度的主观恶意明显。

The "Noain 5310i" cell phone of Shenzhen Noain was highly similar to Nokia's "Nokia 5310" series of cell phone in terms of name and design and decoration.  The defendant was aware of the Nokia product and its popularity and produced its "Noain 5310i" phone carrying a similar name and design and decoration. The Court decided that there was an obvious attempt to improperly and unfairly trade on Nokia's popularity.

综合考虑各方面因素，法院最终判决诺亚信公司赔偿共计人民币300万元。

Taking account of all the factors, the Court ended up making an award of damages in the amount RMB3 million against Shenzhen Noain.

本案饶有兴趣的点在于，已经退出市场的产品如果足够显著和知名，仍然可以得到保护。这不仅可以鼓励权利人更大胆地根据反不正当竞争法寻求适当的救济，而且希望能对可能的侵权人起到震慑作用。

The interesting aspect of the case is that products that have since exited the market may still be afforded protection if sufficiently distinctive and popular.   This should not only encourage rights holders to be bolder in seeking appropriate remedies under the anti-unfair competition law, but hopefully will deter would-be infringers.