Compensation Cases for Trademark Infringement

If an enterprise finds that its trademark has been infringed by others and has caused economic losses, it can demand compensation from the other party in accordance with the law. So how to compensate for trademark infringement? I believe that many people who have encountered trademark infringement want to know its compensation standards. The following Hualu.com editor will mainly introduce you to the relevant knowledge of the compensation standards for trademark infringement.

The amount of compensation for trademark infringement is clearly stipulated in the new Trademark Law that has been implemented.

Article 63 of the Trademark Law stipulates: The amount of compensation for infringement of trademark exclusive rights shall be determined according to the actual losses suffered by the right holder due to infringement; if the actual losses are difficult to determine, it can be determined according to the benefits obtained by the infringer due to infringement; if the losses of the right holder or the benefits obtained by the infringer are difficult to determine, it shall be reasonably determined by referring to the multiples of the trademark license fee. For malicious infringement of trademark exclusive rights, if the circumstances are serious, the amount of compensation can be determined by more than one times and less than three times the amount determined in accordance with the above method. The amount of compensation shall include the reasonable expenses paid by the right holder to stop the infringement.

In order to determine the amount of compensation, the people's court may order the infringer to provide the books and materials related to the infringement if the right holder has tried his best to provide evidence and the books and materials related to the infringement are mainly in the hands of the infringer; if the infringer does not provide or provides false books and materials, the people's court may determine the amount of compensation based on the right holder's claims and the evidence provided. If it is difficult to determine the actual losses suffered by the right holder due to infringement, the profits obtained by the infringer due to infringement, and the license fee for the use of registered trademarks, the people's court shall award compensation of no more than 3 million yuan based on the circumstances of the infringement.

Article 56 of my country's Trademark Law stipulates that the amount of compensation for infringement of trademark exclusive rights is the profits obtained by the infringer due to infringement during the infringement period, or the losses suffered by the infringed during the infringement period, including the reasonable expenses paid by the infringed to stop the infringement. If it is difficult to determine the profits obtained by the infringer due to infringement or the losses suffered by the infringed due to infringement as mentioned in the preceding paragraph, the people's court shall award compensation of no more than 500,000 yuan based on the circumstances of the infringement. The amount of compensation for trademark infringement seems to be relatively complete in this provision, but there are problems in actual operation. What are the benefits obtained from infringement, what are the losses suffered by the infringed party, and how to determine the specific amount.

Problems of calculating profits from infringement

Regarding the calculation of the profits obtained by the infringer due to infringement, Article 14 of the "Interpretation of the Supreme People's Court on Several Issues Concerning the Application of Laws in Trial of Civil Disputes over Trademarks" (hereinafter referred to as the "Interpretation") stipulates: "The profits obtained from infringement as provided for in the first paragraph of Article 56 of the Trademark Law can be calculated based on the sales volume of the infringing goods and the unit profit of the goods; if the unit profit of the goods cannot be ascertained, it shall be calculated based on the unit profit of the registered trademark goods." The State Administration for Industry and Commerce also stipulated in the "Opinions on Several Issues in Trademark Administrative Enforcement" on December 29, 1999: "The profits obtained by the infringer due to infringement during the infringement period generally refer to sales revenue minus costs and taxes payable. The calculation of sales revenue only involves the actual income of the infringer, that is, the income from the part of the goods that have been sold does not include inventory goods."

Although the above two calculation methods are different, their basis is the profit obtained from infringement. However, in commercial operation, the profits obtained by enterprises can be divided into three types: main business profit, total profit and net profit. Main business profit refers to all income obtained from sales, minus the cost; total profit refers to pre-tax income, income tax should be refunded as part of the sales compensation, other expenses should be deducted, and product sales tax is not refundable; net profit refers to the profit that should not only deduct the cost, but also deduct other expenses, and the net profit obtained by the infringer during the infringement period is used as the compensation amount. On the issue of compensation for profits obtained from infringement, it is more reasonable to choose the main business profit as the amount of infringement compensation. It is not necessary to pay income tax that is not generated by one's own business to protect the interests of the infringed party, and it is also conducive to deterring infringement.

However, for trademark infringement, the object of trademark infringement is only one or several products of the trademark owner's products, rather than all products, and a different calculation method should be adopted. In practice, the more practical calculation formula is: Infringement profit = total sales during the infringement period × infringing product allocation ratio × profit margin. Among them, the infringing goods ratio refers to the proportion of infringing goods in all goods. According to the above discussion on the profits obtained from infringement, the product of the total sales during the infringement period and the infringing goods ratio is the main operating profit mentioned above.