In a recent copyright infringement case on computer software between the appellant Plymouth Company and the appellee Lenovo (Beijing) Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Lenovo Beijing Company), the Supreme People's Court made it clear that, if a commodity trademark is affixed to the alleged infringing product, it can be preliminarily determined that the exclusive right holder to use the registered trademark of the commodity trademark is the manufacturer of the alleged infringing product, and can become the defendant actually related to the case dispute in the relevant infringing litigation.

Plymouth Company is a mobile game development company established in the United States and launched the mobile game "Tap the Frog" in 2012. Plymouth Company believes that Lenovo Beijing Company has pre-installed the "Tap the Frog" game on its produced and sold mobile phones without permission since August 31, 2015, which infringed Plymouth Company's copyright on computer software. Plymouth Company filed a lawsuit with the court of first instance, requesting Lenovo Beijing Company to stop infringing its copyright and compensate for economic losses of 5 million yuan. 

The Court of First Instance (Beijing Intellectual Property Court) held that Lenovo Beijing Company was not qualified as the defendant in this case, and rejected Plymouth Company's lawsuit against Lenovo Beijing Company. Plymouth Company refused to accept the appeal and filed an appeal with the Supreme People's Court. 

According to the Supreme People's Court, the case involves the examination standard of the defendant's eligibility. According to Article 119 of the Civil Procedure Law, the plaintiff must have a "clear defendant" when filing a civil lawsuit. The legal requirements of the "clear defendant" here are as follows: 

First, the defendant subject must be clear. If it is a natural person, it must determine its basic identity information such as name, gender, age and residence; if it is a legal person or an unincorporated organization, it is necessary to clarify its name, domicile and other basic information of the subject. 

Secondly, the defendant may bear civil liability, that is, the plaintiff should submit preliminary evidence to prove that the defendant may bear civil liability for its proposed specific claims. As for whether the plaintiff's claim can be supported by the people's court and whether the defendant should bear civil liability, it is not a necessary condition for the people's court to accept civil cases. In short, to examine the conditions of prosecution, the "qualification" of defendant only demands examining whether the plaintiff has provided preliminary evidence that the defendant is related to the disputed legal relationship. 

In this case, the alleged infringing mobile phone and its packaging submitted by Plymouth Company both have the trademark "Lenovo", and Lenovo Beijing Company recognizes it as the exclusive right holder of the registered trademark of "Lenovo" trademark. 

When Plymouth Company sued in this case, on the one hand, it provided the name and residence of Lenovo Beijing Company and determined the main identity of Lenovo Company; on the other hand, it submitted the preliminary evidence that Lenovo Company's registered trademark is on the alleged infringing products  to prove that Lenovo Beijing Company may have committed the alleged infringement. 

Because the trademark of the commodity is attached to the alleged infringing product, it can be preliminarily determined that the exclusive right holder of the trademark of the commodity is the manufacturer of the alleged infringing product, and can become the defendant who is actually related to the case dispute in the relevant infringing litigation. Therefore, Lenovo Beijing Company should be deemed as a qualified defendant in this case.