Brief of the case:

Trademark No. G913774 "EagleBurgmann" is a registered trademark of EAGLEBURGMANN GERMANY GMBH & CO.KG on Machinery parts, Pumps, Compressor seals and other goods, and the exclusive right period is until August 25, 2026. Trademark No. 13760797 "GRUNDFOS" is a registered trademark of GRUNDFOS HOLDING A/S on Pumps [parts of machines, engines or motors] and other goods, and the exclusive right period is until August 20, 2025. Trademark No. 7652880 "格蘭富" is a registered trademark of GRUNDFOS Pumps (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. on Bearings [parts of machines] and Engine airproof piece, and the exclusive right period is until October 20, 2025.

On June 9, 2020, upon the complaint filed by the right holder, the Market Supervision Administration of Zhangjiagang Bonded Area, Jiangsu province, together with the public security department, conducted a surprise inspection of 13 mechanical seal manufacturing and sale companies in the jurisdiction. On the spot, more than 200 sealing products of various types, over 1,000 packaging boxes, more than 30,000 counterfeit labels and certificates, and 5 sets of laser marking machines for forging the registered trademarks, all of which infringe on the exclusive rights of the registered trademarks "EagleBurgmann", "GRUNDFOS", and "格蘭富", were seized. Over 20 computers involved in the case were seized, and the amount involved was more than 6.59 million yuan. Subsequently, law enforcement officers went to Haikou, Changsha, Yueyang and other places based on the transaction clues found on the spot to further investigate and collect evidence on the companies involved, and successfully destroyed a batch of counterfeit production and sales points.

The case-handling authority determined that the companies involved constituted the act of infringement under Article 57(1), (2), and (3) of the Trademark Law, and confiscated and destroyed the infringing goods in accordance with Article 60.2 of the Trademark Law. A fine of 10.3492 million yuan in total was imposed on the companies involved in the case, and 7 criminal suspects from 6 companies involved were transferred to the public security agency in accordance with the law. After the case was closed, the Consulate General of the Federal Republic of Germany in Shanghai and the Royal Danish Consulate General in Shanghai each sent letters of appreciation.

Expert Comments:

This case involved the entire chain of production, processing, and sales of infringing goods. From individual case investigation and thorough search to concentrated investigations in the same industry within its jurisdiction, further to a joint attack by multiple provinces across the country, the law enforcement authority finally successfully cracked down the dens of manufacture and sale of counterfeit products. Many companies and multiple trademarks within a wide range of territories were involved, and the case was complicated. The administrative law enforcement authority coordinated across regions, cracked down the whole chain, and worked closely with the public security agency, which fully demonstrated the advantages of administrative protection. (XU Shengquan, Director of the Jiangsu Trademark Brand Research Center)