German sportswear maker Puma AG Rudolf Dassler Sport has won a
lawsuit against a supermarket in Shanghai that sold fake Puma
athletic shoes, a Shanghai court ruled Friday.
The Shanghai First Intermediate People's Court heard that
Fu-mart, a supermarket owned by the Nanhui branch of the Kunshan
Runhua Commerce Co,. Ltd. in Shanghai, allegedly sold sports shoes
bearing logos identical to the Puma logo.
Lawyers representing Puma managed to buy a pair of fake Puma
shoes for 69 yuan (US$9) on Dec. 22, 2006 at the market.
The German company, which registered the Puma logo in China in
1999, demanded an end to the infringements, a public apology and a
compensation of 500,000 yuan (US$65,700).
The supermarket argued the shoes, registered under the "Shuqi"
trademark, came from legal sources.
The market said that it didn't know the shoemaker had infringed
on Puma's trademark rights, adding that it should not be liable for
compensation, as it has only sold two pairs of the shoes, and had
terminated sales.
The court ruled that the supermarket failed to identify the
infringement and should be held responsible for selling counterfeit
Puma products. It ordered the supermarket to publish a public
statement to mitigate the negative effect it has caused on the Puma
company and pay 100,000 yuan (US$13,100) in damages.
(Xinhua News Agency July 21, 2007)