Intellectual Property Court rejected Canxing's application for reconsideration and "Good Voice of China" was finally suspended

It has been nearly half a month since a "ban" on the name of the "The Voice of China" program was issued. After a public hearing, yesterday, the Beijing Intellectual Property Court issued a reconsideration ruling in response to the reconsideration applications of Shanghai Canxing Cultural Communication Co., Ltd. and Century Liliang (Beijing) International Cultural Media Co., Ltd. requesting to revoke the pre-litigation behavior preservation ruling, and finally rejected the two applicants. The original ruling was upheld. Last night, the court announced and served the reconsideration ruling to both parties in court, and responded one by one to the focus issues of concern to both parties in the past.

Original title: "The Voice of China" is finally suspended. It

has been nearly half a month since a "ban" on the name of the "The Voice of China" program was issued. After a public hearing, yesterday, the Beijing Intellectual Property Court issued a reconsideration ruling in response to the reconsideration applications of Shanghai Canxing Cultural Communication Co., Ltd. and Century Liliang (Beijing) International Cultural Media Co., Ltd. requesting to revoke the pre-litigation behavior preservation ruling, and finally rejected the two applicants. The original ruling was upheld. This also means that Canxing Company needs to immediately stop using program names containing the words "The Voice of China" and "The Voice of China" during the promotion, promotion, audition, advertising investment, and program production process of singing competition talent shows. and related registered trademarks.

Last night, the court announced and served the reconsideration ruling to both parties in court, and responded one by one to the focus issues of concern to both parties in the past.

Focus 1 Does the Hong Kong ruling conflict with the "pre-litigation injunction"?

Court: The Hong Kong ruling does not necessarily affect the Beijing Intellectual Property Court's ruling that the

Beijing Intellectual Property Court held that based on the available evidence, it can be concluded that the original production of "The Voice of China" program originated from Talpa Company's authorization on the relevant program model.

The content of the Hong Kong Arbitration Tribunal's ruling has no material impact on this case. It should be pointed out that whether the interim injunction issued by the Hong Kong High Court, the Hong Kong Arbitration Tribunal's handling of the application for interim measures filed by Talpa Company, and the preservation measures taken by the Beijing Intellectual Property Court, they are all procedural measures subordinate to the arbitration and litigation procedures taken to protect the final realization of the parties 'substantive rights, and are not the final conclusion of the arbitration and infringement litigation cases. Moreover, each has strong independence, which does not necessarily affect the Beijing Intellectual Property Court's judgment and implementation of pre-litigation preservation measures. Moreover, the current ruling of the Hong Kong International Arbitration Center has not made a conclusive determination on the contractual ownership of the name of the Chinese program of "The Voice of China".

In response to Zhejiang Satellite TV's statement that created "The Voice of China," the Beijing Intellectual Property Court held that this case did not rule out that Zhejiang Satellite TV might eventually have the rights and interests in the names of "The Voice of China" Chinese programs. However, the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television's management regulations on TV stations and the filing management of TV program names are not the only basis for judging the ownership of civil rights and interests; At the same time, the court has repeatedly asked Canxing Company to submit the relevant agreements it holds with Zhejiang Satellite TV, but it has never submitted them. Zhejiang Satellite TV did not submit any other corresponding evidence except for a written statement. Therefore, judging from the available evidence, Tangde Company's rights and interests related to the Chinese program name of "The Voice of China" are continuous and stable, and this stability has an evidence basis to support its possibility of winning the case.

Focus 2 Is this case urgent?

Court: It is an "emergency" situation stipulated in the Civil Procedure Law

. The Beijing Intellectual Property Court held that the popularity of the "The Voice of China" program is closely related to its program content and the model and characteristics adopted by the program. If another singing competition talent show whose program name contains "The Voice of China" appears, it may obviously cause confusion and misunderstanding among the relevant public, which may lead to the loss of competitive advantage of this type of program developed and produced by Tangde Company in accordance with the contract. Subsequent media reports will bring about large-scale dissemination and spread, which is likely to significantly increase the cost and difficulty of rights protection for Tangde Company. Therefore, when there was evidence that Canxing Company would produce the "2016 The Voice of China" singing competition talent show and Zhejiang Satellite TV would broadcast the program, the Beijing Intellectual Property Court found that the pre-litigation preservation measures were in line with the "emergency" situation stipulated in the Civil Procedure Law.

Focus on how much the guarantee amount of 3.13 billion yuan is much less?

Court: The program revenue is not necessarily all related to the program name.

The reconsideration applicant claimed that the 130 million yuan guarantee provided by Tangde Company did not match the revenue of the "Good Voice of China" program recorded in its statement of 4 billion yuan, and caused hundreds of millions of investment losses, and the guarantee amount is now insufficient; the guarantee form of replacing 100 million yuan in cash with a 100 million yuan liability insurance guarantee letter is inappropriate.

The Beijing Intellectual Property Court held that program revenue does not necessarily come entirely from the use of program names. The reconsideration applicant did not submit evidence of the current relevant losses and their connection with the program's renaming. At the same time, the form in which insurance companies provide liability insurance guarantee letters has been widely applied in judicial practice. In this case, Tangde Company plans to replace the 100 million yuan in cash submitted with a 100 million yuan liability insurance guarantee letter issued by the insurance company, and another 30 million yuan in cash guarantee.

Response: The search shows that the program has been renamed "The Voice of 2016"

. According to the relevant provisions of the Civil Procedure Law, if the party concerned is not satisfied with the ruling on preservation or pre-execution, he may apply for reconsideration once. The execution of the ruling will not be suspended during the review period. This case has already passed a review ruling, so Canxing Company will have no other remedies for the "ban" before the substantive trial of the case is completed.

Pang Zhengzhong, a lawyer representing Tangde Company, said in an interview with reporters,"If the other party does not implement the ruling, we will apply to the court for enforcement. In addition, the court can also announce the ruling to the public. If Canxing violates the ruling at the audition site and other occasions, we can ask the relevant departments not to use this name."

Zhang Lei, a lawyer representing Canxing Company, said,"Although we believe that this ruling is problematic, we will respect the court's ruling and pay attention to relevant behaviors in accordance with the requirements of the ruling. In the future, some issues of program names and trademark identification may be involved, and there should also be options that have considered program names before. In the future, our original programs will definitely continue to be produced, but they will also be carried out within the scope permitted by law."

Since Tang De Company only asked the other party to ban the use of program names such as "The Voice of China" and "The Voice of..." when applying for pre-litigation behavior preservation, but did not apply for a ban on similar program names, Canxing Company is also very likely to "edge the ball" in future program names. As of press time, the program name of "The Voice of China 2016" on Baidu search has been changed to "The Voice of 2016."

Case review

"The Voice of..." program is a real-life talent show originally developed by Talpa Company in the Netherlands. Season 1 to 4 "The Voice of China" is produced and broadcast by Canxing Company. According to the authorization of Talpa Company, Tangde Company obtained the exclusive and exclusive authorization to use "The Voice of..." related intellectual property rights in the mainland of China from January 28, 2016 to January 28, 2020. On June 7, Tangde Company filed a pre-litigation preservation application with the Beijing Intellectual Property Court to prohibit others from using "Good Voice of China." On June 20, the court issued a civil ruling on "preservation of pre-litigation behavior".

Subsequently, Canxing Company and Century Liliang Company filed a reconsideration application with the Beijing Intellectual Property Court, requesting the court to revoke the ruling.

On June 22, the Hong Kong International Arbitration Center ruled on a similar dispute: interim measures were taken against "'The Voice of China'-Zhong Guo Hao Sheng Yin "and related logos to protect Talpa's intellectual property rights, but did not cover the Chinese character" Good Voice of China."

Editor: yvette