The Higher Court of Guangdong Province reached the final judgment over a trademark infringement and unfair competition dispute, and ruled 10 million yuan compensation to be paid to Guangdong Yongquan Valve Technology Co., Ltd. 

As the leading figure of valve industry in China, Guangdong Yongquan Company is the owner of registered trademark "Yongquan Valve". The trademark, with the aid of a leading position in product quality and the industry standards, has been recognized as famous trademark in Guangdong Province for many times. Both the company and the trademark enjoyed high popularity and reputation. The defendants Dongguan Yongquan Company and Shenhe Valve Company have produced and sold valve products since 2013, and have used "Yongquan Valve", "YQFM" and other signs on the product certificate and the official website. The "Yongquan" brand name is used in the enterprise name, the domain names (yq-fm.com and yqfm.net) for a long time, and false propaganda had been made on the official website of the defendant, and the products are sold to many cities in China. After being punished by the administrative organs and losing the first trial, the defendants did not cease the trademark infringement, and conducted unfair competition behaviors such as confusing the use of enterprise brand name and domain name and carrying out false propaganda at the same time. 

After the hearing, the Guangdong Higher Court held that both parties are competitors in the same industry, and the defendants deliberately highlights the use of "Yongquan Valve" and "YQFM" in the relevant valve product certificates and sales websites with the clear knowledge of the popularity of the plaintiff and its trademark, which constitute trademark infringement. The use of "Yongquan" in the enterprise name, the use of yq-fm.com and yqfm.net domain names, and the false propaganda all constitute unfair competition. The infringing products include many types, and are sold at high prices in a large sales volume. The infringement had been conducted over a long period of time, and the infringer continued the infringement after being subjected to administrative punishment and first-instance judgment. The infringement is subjective and malicious, and the circumstances and consequences are serious. Therefore, the court ruled immediately stop to the infringement and unfair competition, and compensate Guangdong Yongquan Company for economic losses and related rights protection expenses totaling 10 million yuan.