Established in 2006, DFJ DragonFund was the joint venture of Draper Fisher Jurvetson (DFJ) and DragonVenture, which concentrated on investing emerging technology in China. DFJ DragonFund (Shanghai) Equity Investment Management Co., Ltd. (in Chinese: 德丰杰龙脉(上海)股权投资管理有限公司; hereafter “DFJ DragonFund” in short), a management consulting company for DFJ DragonFund, is the registrant of trademarks “德丰杰龙脉”(DFJ DragonFund in Chinese) and “德丰杰龙脉 DFJ DragonFund” in China.
Since 2014, without authorization, Charles QU(Chinese Name:曲敬东)and his affiliated companies have been using “德丰杰龙脉”or“新龙脉” (DFJ DragonFund in Chinese or New-Dragon in Chinese) as trademark and trade name to conduct misleading competitive business. Their trademark infringements and unfair competition not only mislead relevant public but also caused heavy damage to DFJ DragonFund. Since Charles and the affiliated companies refused to comply with the Cease and Desist letters, ChangTsi, on behalf of DFJ, filed a civil action against Charles and the affiliated companies before Beijing Haidian District People’s Court in 2016.
Our partner Tracy Shen leading her team conducted detailed analysis of the whole facts, and with comprehensive investigation and evidence collection, formulated a practical strategy, and combined with necessary administrative compliant measures to prove the infringing facts and its severity. The Court held several court hearings and in 2019 rendered the first instance judgment, confirming that Charles QU and his five affiliates constituted trademark infringement and unfair competition, ordering the defendants to stop trademark infringement and unfair competition, publish statement to eliminate the infringement effects, change their enterprise names, and compensate DFJ DragonFund damages of CNY 2.8Million and reasonable cost around CNY 470,000 jointly. Charles QU and his affiliates appealed to Beijing Intellectual Property Court and DFJ DragonFund asked ChangTsi to move on with the second instance. With efforts, the Appellate Court confirmed the facts discovered in the first instance and made the final judgment in Dec. 2020, which rejected the appeal and sustained the first instance judgment in full aspects.
The aforementioned case is of positive significance for combating counterfeits, protecting the legal rights and interests of right holders, and maintaining market order. It has also strengthened our determination to help our clients to protect their rights and interests with the highest level of service and more precise customized IP protection solutions.