On December 27 2006, Beijing No. 1 Intermediate People's Court (hereinafter referred to as the “court”) made open judgment on 17 foreign IP cases. 13 foreign enterprises including Pfizer Inc., Twentieth Century Fox Inc., Colombia Pictures Inc., Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc., Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. and FA Football League Limited, etc. have received favorable judgments.
Among these 17 cases, the dispute over the Lion design mark of English Premiership League has attracted great attention. Six years ago, XuZhou XiangShi Celebration & Ceremony Co. Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as “Xuzhou Company” ) successfully registered the trademark “Xiang Shi & device”, which was considered similar to the Lion design of the English Premiership League and cancelled by the Trademark Review and adjudication Board (the TRAB) at the request of F. A. Premier League Limited. Dissatisfied with the adjudication, XuZhou Company lodged a lawsuit at the Court against the TRAB. After court hearing, the plaintiff’s claims were finally rejected.
