In the midst of the “ongoing transformation,” Shiseido China is quietly strengthening its efforts in intellectual property protection.
Recently, CHAILEEDO learned from the People’s Court announcement website that Shiseido (China) Investment Co., Ltd. (referred to as Shiseido China) has taken legal action against Guangzhou Juyihui Trading Co., Ltd. (referred to as Juyihui Trading) and Guangzhou Yashi Cosmetics Co., Ltd. (referred to as Guangzhou Yashi) and other legal entities for using product names, packaging, decorations, and similar or identical signs without authorization that have a certain impact on others. Shiseido China has requested these entities to compensate 3 million RMB in damages among other legal claims.
It is worth noting that this lawsuit involves the well-known sunscreen brand ANESSA under Shiseido that has been repeatedly counterfeited, and the 3 million RMB compensation claim is one of the highest amounts sought by Shiseido since its entry into the Chinese market.
Shiseido China has put forward five demands, and the court announcement states that the defendants are “missing.”
Not long ago, according to the announcement published on the People’s Court website, in a case involving a dispute between the plaintiff Shiseido China and the defendants Juyihui Trading, Guangzhou Yashi, Nipponsei Co., Ltd. (Guangzhou) International Trade Co., Ltd. (referred to as Nipponsei), Shenzhen Yuzhongtang Trading Co., Ltd. (referred to as Yuzhongtang Trading), Zhang Mouyin, Li Mou, Liao Mouying, Huang Mouqiao for unauthorized use of product names, packaging, decorations, and similar or identical signs with a certain impact on others, Shiseido China has filed five demands with the Longgang District People’s Court in Shenzhen.
CHAILEEDO’s investigation revealed that the core of several demands revolves around the infringement faced by Shiseido’s brand ANESSA. For instance, Shiseido China has requested the court to order the eight defendants to cease engaging in unfair competition and other unfair practices related to the ANESSA sunscreen series products which have a certain impact, including the production, commissioning of production, sale, and destruction of inventory of infringing products similar to the names, packaging, and decorations of the ANESSA “Golden Bottle” sunscreen series products.
Moreover, Shiseido China has also requested the court to order the eight defendants to cease infringing on its registered trademark No. 11115855, including but not limited to halting the production and sale of infringing products, closing infringing links and stores, ceasing the promise of selling infringing products, and destroying inventory.
According to the Trademark Search Platform of Tianyancha, the trademark number 11115855 is for “ANESSA,” applied by Shiseido Corporation in June 2012. It is classified internationally as a trademark for cosmetics and will be valid until March 2026.
Simultaneously, Shiseido China demands the defendants to eliminate the impact of the infringement and compensate for economic losses. As per the announcement, Shiseido China requests the court to order the eight defendants to issue public statements on well-known media outlets such as “Ruili Fashion Beauty” and “Fashion Bazaar” and the Tmall platform homepage to eliminate the impact of their infringement, apply punitive compensation for the defendants’ infringing actions, and compensate the plaintiff’s economic losses and reasonable expenses incurred in stopping the defendants’ infringement, totaling 3 million RMB.
According to the National Enterprise Credit Information Publicity System, the defendants involved in this case are engaged in various aspects of the cosmetics industry chain. For example, Juyihui and Yuzhongtang Trading were established in 2014 and 2017 respectively, with involvement in wholesale businesses. Nipponsei, established in 2021, is involved in the retail industry, while Guangzhou Yashi is focused on the manufacture of chemical raw materials and products, having been established for over 16 years. Additionally, based on the information displayed on the homepage of Guangzhou Yashi’s 1688 store, they are an OEM/ODM one-stop branding processing manufacturer capable of processing a variety of products such as masks, personal care items, and facial cleansers, claiming to have over ten certifications.
It is worth mentioning that in July of this year, the National Medical Products Administration issued a notice on 36 batches of non-compliant cosmetics, among which the Yashi Whitening Moisturizing Sunscreen produced by Guangzhou Yashi was reported for not detecting the sunscreen agent 4-methylbenzylidene camphor as indicated in the technical requirements on the product label and registration data.
The aforementioned announcement also states, “As you (the defendants) are missing, according to the provisions of Article 95 of the Civil Procedure Law of the People’s Republic of China, a copy of the complaint and the Notice of Litigation Rights and Obligations shall be served to you by public announcement… From the date of this announcement, it will be deemed as served after thirty days.”
CHAILEEDO’s investigation revealed that since its entry into China, Shiseido has initiated multiple lawsuits due to product infringements. In 2008, Shiseido China took several Chinese companies to court for using identical or similar text marks and trademarks to “SHISEIDO” on their business names and product packaging, seeking compensation of 4.8 million RMB for related losses. In 2022, Shiseido filed a lawsuit against four companies, including Zhejiang Meirenji Health Technology Group Co., Ltd., citing infringement of CPB’s design patent.
Chinese and international brands intensively “fight with” counterfeit behaviors repeatedly harming brands.
Shiseido China’s lawsuit this time can be described as a microcosm of this year’s collective “rights protection” by beauty brands.
CHAILEEDO has noticed that this year, whether international giants or Chinese brands, have been intensively combating infringement. For example, in July this year, Estée Lauder (Shanghai) Trading Co., Ltd. (referred to as Estée Lauder) won a case involving trademark infringement and unfair competition, stemming from the infringement of its ORIGINS products, subsequently taking the trademark infringer, accused operators of infringing products, and manufacturers to court.
The court ruled that the defendant, without permission from Estée Lauder, used markings on the packaging of products with a certain impact similar to Estée Lauder’s products, causing confusion with the products, showing subjective malice by attaching to the reputation of the products and seeking commercial opportunities for themselves, and constituting unfair competition. The court imposed punitive compensation of 5 times for the trademark infringement part of the defendants, eventually ordering the defendants to compensate Estée Lauder with 10.57 million RMB, making it a rare multimillion-dollar compensation case in the cosmetics industry in recent years.
Similarly, the FMCG giant Procter & Gamble has also been consistently combating infringement in the Chinese market. According to Tianyancha, Guangzhou Procter & Gamble Co., Ltd. alone has filed over 800 lawsuits related to trademark infringement disputes since the beginning of this year.
In addition, Chinese brands such as Shanghai Jahwa, Bluemoon, Adolph, and others are also deeply troubled by trademark infringements. For example, Shanghai Jahwa and Bluemoon, as plaintiffs, have faced situations where their trademarks have been infringed by Liu Shen and Bluemoon, respectively, collectively suing over 600 convenience stores and supermarkets since the beginning of this year.
In response, industry insiders have pointed out, “The war for trademark rights protection among Chinese and international beauty and personal care brands has already begun, and behind this ‘collective offensive’ lies the helplessness of brands.”
CHAILEEDO has observed that nowadays, trademark infringement or counterfeit products not only disrupt market competition order, leading to economic losses for brands, but can also “harm” brand reputation.
For instance, the sunscreen brand ANESSA, as a popular brand frequently counterfeited, has been found to be substandard in multiple inspections. However, after reviews by Shiseido China and local drug regulatory authorities, it was discovered that the substandard products were not genuine ANESSA products.
Similarly, the Chinese brand Winona recently appeared in a notice regarding non-compliant cosmetics, but BTN subsequently issued an official statement stating that, following a review by the Yunnan Provincial Drug Administration, the company did not produce or import the batch of non-compliant products.
Faced with the dilemma of beauty brands being repeatedly infringed and counterfeited, relevant regulatory authorities are actively cracking down on related illegal activities. Just this year, the Market Supervision Administration of Xuancheng City in Anhui Province reported that the local market supervision department, in conjunction with the public security department, successfully cracked a major case of illegal online production and sale of counterfeit well-known brand cosmetics, involving goods worth 250 million RMB, making it the largest case of online production and sale of counterfeit cosmetics this year.
The first Chinese national cosmetics intellectual property rights protection center is operational, and protecting intellectual property still requires the joint efforts of the entire society.
As Marx mentioned in “Capital,” when profits reach 10%, some become restless; when profits reach 50%, some dare to take risks; when profits reach 100%, they dare to trample on all laws.
CHAILEEDO has noticed that the persistence of cosmetics infringement and counterfeiting is not only driven by significant profits but also because enterprises, platforms, and various local regulatory authorities have yet to form a true united front. The lack of a comprehensive legal framework to combat counterfeiting is also a significant factor.
During last year’s Shanghai Two Sessions, Chen Juanling, the Public Affairs General Manager of CHANDO Group, submitted a proposal titled “Enhancing the Protection of Enterprise Intellectual Property Rights to Promote the Development of the Beauty and Health Industry.” She bluntly stated that “many fake cosmetics have transformed into frequent infringements, gradually forming a complete industrial chain, seriously affecting the industry’s commitment to originality and research and development, harming and restricting the normal and healthy development of the cosmetics industry.”
Chen Juanling pointed out that relying solely on the limited power of enterprises is insufficient to eradicate counterfeit goods effectively. Government intervention is necessary to assist enterprises in achieving breakthroughs in anti-counterfeiting efforts. “Government departments actively guide enterprises in conducting preliminary investigations, collecting evidence, and analyzing cases, help enterprises connect with local law enforcement agencies, and facilitate smooth investigation and resolution of cases; strengthen the implementation of laws through cases for enterprises to promptly grasp the latest legal regulations, policy spirit, and enforcement standards in anti-counterfeiting efforts.”
“In recent years, many brands have been combating counterfeits. However, currently, it feels like there are fewer instances of counterfeiting, and instead, there are increasingly more cases of infringement. In these recent years, I hardly hear about counterfeiting issues.” A founder of a new and innovative Chinese cosmetics brand expressed to CHAILEEDO regarding the current state of intellectual property protection in the Chinese cosmetics industry.
According to Deng Gang from Guangdong Fazhi Shengbang Law Firm, “In the past two years, the penalties for infringement in patent law and trademark law have significantly increased, reflecting the legislative focus on trademark protection.”
It is worth noting that CHAILEEDO has also observed that in recent years, local regulatory authorities have taken new actions against counterfeit and infringing cosmetics, further narrowing the space for cosmetics infringement.
In August of this year, the only national-level intellectual property rapid rights protection center in the cosmetics field in China – the Shanghai Fengxian (Cosmetics) Intellectual Property Rapid Rights Protection Center officially started operations. Its core business includes providing rapid intellectual property dispute rights protection open to all enterprises, trademark services, overseas intellectual property guidance, and other services.
Last month, the iconic trademark of HR Helena, a brand under the L’Oréal Group, was successfully selected for the “Fifteenth Batch of Shanghai Key Trademark Protection List” released by the Shanghai Intellectual Property Office. This list aims to curb trademark infringement and focuses on protecting registered trademarks with significant market influence that are prone to counterfeiting, providing a solid foundation for the long-term development of brands. Previously, trademarks of L’Oréal, Maybelline, Lancôme, YSL, and others have been included in this list.
Looking ahead, “combating infringement and counterfeiting of cosmetics” remains a common challenge for the entire cosmetics industry. It will require the joint efforts of the government, platforms, enterprises, and brands to truly uphold intellectual property rights, promoting the healthy development of the industry.
