Recently, the "Oriental Selection" and Dong Yuhui's "small composition" incident has been heating up, which has aroused widespread attention. As of December 17, a live broadcast room called "Western Selection" once again focused on the issue of imitation, and the anchor's style was similar to Dong Yuhui's, causing netizens to doubt the issue of infringement.
The account premiered at 10 p.m. on the 17th, and the live broadcast room once reached more than 40,000 viewers. However, on the morning of the 18th, the account was abnormal, the account information was no longer displayed, all published ** were not visible, and the nickname and avatar were also restored.
In this regard, the person in charge of the short ** platform told ** that the "Western Selection" account has counterfeit and improper hype, and has been banned, the live broadcast permission has been withdrawn, and the improper acquisition of fans has also been corrected.
This incident has sparked a wide range of social discussions. Some people think that this is an act of imitation and chasing heat, and it should be punished. It is also believed that such conduct is suspected of violating the Anti-Unfair Competition Law and constitutes unfair competition.
In addition, since the popularity of the "Oriental Selection" live broadcast, many companies have applied for the registration of the "Oriental Selection" trademark. Among them, a number of trademarks applied for by Beijing New Oriental Xuncheng Network Technology Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of New Oriental, have been successfully registered, and most of the trademark applications of other companies have been rejected or are invalid. Similarly, trademarks such as "Western Selection", "Southern Selection", "Northern Selection" and "Dong Yuhui" have also been registered by a number of companies.
Behind this, does the launch of "Western Selection" constitute an infringement on "Oriental Selection"?Is this an act of unfair competition?Does the use of anchors similar to Dong Yuhui for live broadcasts by "Western Selection" constitute infringement?And whether the preemptive registration of trademarks such as "Western Selection" constitutes infringement?Are there any legal risks associated with these actions?
Let's take a look at the lawyer's professional interpretation!
Article 6 of the Anti-Unfair Competition Law of the People's Republic of China provides for a series of confusing acts, including the unauthorized use of marks that are identical or similar to the names, packaging, decorations, etc. of goods that have a certain influence on others. Considering the good reputation and continuous growth of "Oriental Selection" on the domestic live broadcast e-commerce platform, it can be considered that it has formed a certain market popularity and influence. Therefore, the live broadcast of "Western Selection" in its name may lead to confusion among the public's perception of the two platforms and constitute unfair competition.
Dong Yuhui, the anchor of "Oriental Selection", has accumulated more than 20 million fans on the Internet and has extremely high IP commercial value. If "Western Selection" deliberately imitates Dong Yuhui's live broadcast style, causing confusion among the public and damaging Dong Yuhui's right to reputation, it may constitute infringement.
According to Article 57 of the Trademark Law of the People's Republic of China, any person who uses a trademark that is identical or similar to his registered trademark on the same kind of goods, or uses a trademark that is identical or similar to his registered trademark on similar goods, without the permission of the trademark registrant, is likely to cause confusion, is an infringement of the exclusive right to use a registered trademark. Considering that "Dongfang Selection" already has considerable popularity on the Internet, if other companies preemptively register trademarks such as "Western Selection" and "Southern Selection", they may mislead the public into believing that these platforms have a specific connection with "Oriental Selection", which constitutes unfair competition.
When judging whether a trademark is similar, it is necessary to comprehensively consider the general attention of the public, the comparison of the whole and part of the trademark, and the distinctiveness and popularity of the protected trademark. Since "Oriental Selection" has established a high reputation in the market, the trademarks of other platforms are similar to them, which may involve infringement issues under trademark law.
China's Trademark Law stipulates that an application for trademark registration shall not infringe upon the existing prior rights of others, nor shall it preemptively register a trademark that has been used by others and has a certain influence by improper means. Trademark applications that violate this principle may face administrative penalties, and the trademark authority may also be ordered to make corrections, or even face fines or criminal liability.
In this case, if some companies maliciously rub hot spots and preemptively register trademarks, they may violate the relevant provisions of the Anti-Unfair Competition Law of the People's Republic of China, because such behavior may mislead the public into believing that these companies are somehow related to the original trademark holders. Such a trademark application may be determined as unfair competition and need to bear corresponding legal liabilities.
In general, this series of incidents involves legal provisions such as the Trademark Law and the Anti-Unfair Competition Law, which are of great significance for protecting the legitimate rights and interests of enterprises and maintaining market order. If any enterprise or individual involved believes that their rights and interests have been infringed, they can consider protecting their rights through legal means to maintain their business reputation and popularity.
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