"Korla Fragrant Pear" rights defense dispute: the price difference of fake Fragrant Pear is half,...

After the trademark infringement case of "Xiaoyao Town Hu spicy soup" and "Tongguan Roujiamo" continued to ferment, hundreds of merchants in Luoyang, Henan, Chengdu, Sichuan and other places used the word "Korla" for their fragrant pears, and were taken by Xinjiang Bayin.

On November 26, the Korla Fragrant Pear Association officially stated that it was clear that the protection of rights was because some merchants used the name "Korla Fragrant Pear" to counterfeit the varieties of non-Korla origin to deceive consumers

A fruit merchant who has been specializing in Korla fragrant pears for 15 years revealed to a reporter from the Beijing News that the phenomenon of using red fragrant pears and other varieties to pretend to be Korla fragrant pears in the fruit market is very common

A reporter from the Beijing News inquired that the Korla Fragrant Pear Association had carried out rights protection many times before.

A lawyer in the trademark field told a reporter from the Beijing News that "Korla Fragrant Pear" is a geographical indication certification mark, and the association's rights protection is based on law

Hundreds of fruit shops are sued for selling Korla fragrant pears

On November 21, media reported that hundreds of fruit merchants in Luoyang, Henan were sued by the Korla Fragrant Pear Association for infringement for selling fragrant pears with the word "Korla"

On November 25, many fruit shops in Chengdu, Sichuan were also sued by the Korla Fragrant Pear Association for infringing on the exclusive rights of trademarks, claiming compensation from merchants ranging from 20,000 to 50,000 yuan

However, a reporter from the Beijing News noted that in these reports, the merchants did not specify whether they were selling real Korla pears

Zhong Lan’an, a partner of Beijing Jingshi Law Firm, said that ordinary fruit distributors did not have the professional skills to identify whether the products belong to the real Korla pears.

Korla fragrant pear trademark information

According to data, Korla fragrant pears are produced in the Korla area of ​​Bayingoleng Mongolian Autonomous Prefecture in Xinjiang and are known as "treasures among pears"

Up to 561 trademark infringement cases sued by the association

According to Tianyan, the Korla Fragrant Pear Association was established in 1994, and its main work is the exchange of Korla Fragrant Pear production technology experience, technical training, product sales, brand cultivation, and supply of agricultural materials

Relevant trademark information of Tianyan Chakurle Fragrant Pear Association

According to the data, the association applied for the registered trademarks "Korla Fragrant PEAR", "FRAGRANT PEAR" and "KUERLEXIANGLI" respectively on June 30, 1995, November 23, 2004, and June 22, 2009.

In August 2019, the Korla Fragrant Pear Association issued the "Korla Fragrant Pear Certification Trademark Use Management Regulations" stipulating that trademark applicants must pay a trademark license fee after successful application

On November 26, a reporter from the Beijing News called the secretariat of the Korla Fragrant Pear Association, and the staff explained that for trademark application applicants who are not members of the association, they use a trademark of 0.

"The prosecution of small merchants does cause them great losses, and I also hope that they can provide upstream suppliers to facilitate the further protection of their rights
.
" The staff of the Korla Fragrant Pear Association Secretariat told the Beijing News reporter, but at present, many small merchants cannot provide it.
Upstream distributors have no legal purchase channels
.

The Korla Fragrant Pear Association officially stated on November 26 that the rights protection was due to unscrupulous merchants using the name "Korla Fragrant Pears" to counterfeit red Fragrant Pears, Common Fragrant Pears and other non-Korla varieties
.
The association also stated that there is no high initial fee, and it does not force merchants to join the association
.
The association is a non-profit organization that protects Korla fragrant pears.
There is no case of suing for money in normal rights protection
.

On November 26, the Korla Fragrant Pear Association released a screenshot of the "Explanation on the Recent Online "Selling Korla Fragrant Pears Prosecuted"
.

In fact, the Korla Fragrant Pear Association has filed a huge number of trademark dispute cases in recent years
.
Tianyan Check shows that since 2018, the association has sued more than 600 fruit shops and companies to the court, involving 18 provinces across the country
.
Up to now, the association has involved 561 cases of trademark infringement disputes
.
According to incomplete statistics, since 2018, the association has received more than 970,000 yuan in compensation by prosecuting merchants for trademark infringement
.

The price of fake Korla fragrant pears is half cheaper, concentrated in second and third tier cities

What is the situation of Korla fragrant pear being counterfeited? On November 26, "Korla Fragrant Pear King" Xu Long, who has been specializing in Beijing Xinfadi Market for 15 years, introduced to the Beijing News reporter that there is indeed a phenomenon of selling red Fragrant Pears and other varieties as Korla Fragrant Pears in the fruit market.
Universally
.
He said that the appearance of the fake Korla fragrant pear is almost the same as the real Korla fragrant pear, and the taste is slightly different
.
"There are also merchants who do not want to pay trademark fees.
Their products are indeed Korla fragrant pears, but this is also an infringement
.
"

In terms of price, there is a big gap between authentic Korla fragrant pears and counterfeit products
.
According to Xu Long, the current wholesale price of authentic Korla fragrant pears is 60 yuan per box (12 kg), which is about 4-5 yuan per catty, while the price of Korla fragrant pears posing as red fragrant pears is half the price, which is about 2- 3 yuan a catty
.

"Cheap prices have hit some markets, and the real Korla fragrant pears are limited in sales
.
" Xu Long said that regular Korla fragrant pear distributors generally have their own companies and planting bases in the Korla area, and apply for trademark use through the Korla fragrant pear association.
, Centralized shipments, to ensure the authenticity of the source from the source
.
Beijing has relatively strict control, and this phenomenon is rare
.
“Half of the counterfeit market for Korla fragrant pears is concentrated in second- and third-tier cities
.
The counterfeit Korla fragrant pears on the market are generally purchased from the surrounding areas of Korla, Xinjiang
.

Regarding the recent trademark infringement, the merchant stated that the regular Korla fragrant pear merchants really have no choice but to protect their rights through the Korla fragrant pear association and the local government
.

The Korla Fragrant Pear Association also mentioned in its external statement that in recent years, the association has cooperated with law enforcement agencies to carry out law enforcement inspections on some fruit wholesale markets across the country.
The protection work of Xiangli brand caused great trouble
.
The association adopts judicial rights protection methods, and guides merchants to purchase goods through legal and formal channels by issuing court effective judgment documents, publishing identification methods, guiding merchants to view authorization certificates, and saving purchase vouchers
.

Gao Peijie, a lawyer from Beijing Jingshi Law Firm, stated that in accordance with the "Trademark Law", the trademark "Korla Fragrant Pear" is a collective trademark legally registered by the Korla Fragrant Pear Association and has the right to protect its legal rights and interests in accordance with the law
.
Although most of the logos used by the fragrant pears sold on the market with the word "Korla" are not exactly the same as the trademark, they may still constitute the use of a trademark similar to its registered trademark on the same product
.
Even if it does not constitute a trademark infringement, based on the brand and influence of the Korla Fragrant Pear Association, it may also constitute an unfair competition relationship
.

"Korla Fragrant Pear Association" and "Tongguan Roujiamo Association" trademark rights are different in nature

After the "Korla Fragrant Pear" trademark rights protection incident occurred, many netizens thought of the recent ongoing fermentation of "Xiaoyao Town Hu spicy soup" and "Tongguan Roujiamo" rights protection incident
.

Recently, more than 50 Hula soup restaurants in Xiaoyao Town, Jiaozuo, Henan were sued for trademark infringement by the “Xiaoyao Hula Soup Association” of Xihua County for the use of "Xiaoyao Town" in their signs, demanding payment of membership fees
.
The "Tongguan Roujiamo Association" brought the Roujiamo merchants with the words "Tongguan" to court, demanding compensation for trademark infringement
.

On November 26, the State Intellectual Property Office stated that "Xiaoyao Town" is a common trademark, and its registrant cannot collect the so-called "membership fee" on this basis
.
"Tongguan Roujiamo" is a geographical indication registered as a collective trademark, and its registrant has no right to license the use of this geographical indication collective trademark to merchants outside the specific area of ​​Tongguan and charge a franchise fee
.
At the same time, it has no right to prohibit businesses in a specific area of ​​Tongguan from properly using the geographical names in the collective geographical indication trademark
.

Some netizens believe that, similar to the above two cases, the Korla Fragrant Pear Association is suspected of seeking profit through litigation, and some netizens believe that Korla Fragrant Pear is a geographical indication product and there is nothing wrong with protecting its rights
.

Zhong Lan’an told the Beijing News reporter that, unlike the two cases mentioned above, "Korla Fragrant Pear" as a geographical indication certification trademark, for those who are not produced in the Korla region or individuals and organizations that use the trademark without authorization, they can protect their rights.
The law is well-founded
.
This kind of rights protection also safeguards the legitimate rights and interests of consumers
.

However, Zhong Lanan also stated that although the geographical indication certification mark "Korla Fragrant Pear" is held by the Korla Fragrant Pear Association, it does not mean that the association has the absolute right to monopolize the use of the geographical indication
.
According to the Trademark Law, “if a geographical indication is registered as a certification mark, natural persons, legal persons or other organizations whose goods meet the conditions for using the geographical indication may request the use of the certification mark, and the organization that controls the certification mark shall allow it
.
” That is to say.
, Market entities that meet the requirements of origin and quality have the right to use the geographical indication properly
.