| SymboThe Case of Infringement on the Olympic l of
Five Rings
The case of disputes in which the China National Olympic
Committee sued the Jingwei Foodstuff Industrial Co., Ltd.
of Shantou city for infringement upon its exclusive right
to use its trademark was judged on 17 December 1998 by
No.1 Intermediate People's Court of Beijing Municipality.
Dissatisfied, the defendant appealed to the Higher
People's Court of Beijing Municipality.
The judgment of first instance determined that the
Olympic Symbol of Five Rings has been registered by the
International Olympic Committee as its trademark in
China, and is protected under the Chinese Trademark Law.
The National Olympic Committee of China has the right to
institute proceedings involving the legal protection
thereof. From August 1996 onward, the defendant committed
the act of printing, without authorization, the five-ring
of IOC on the packages of it products, the Jingwei
nutritious oatmeal and Meiwei instant nutritious oatmeal
its manufactures and sells. It has constituted an
infringement on the exclusive right of IOC to use the
Symbol and should bear its corresponding legal
liabilities. Accordingly, the Court of first instance
ruled that the defendant stop right away its act of using
the Olympic symbol of five rings, make an open apology in
the press, compensate to the plaintiff RMB 5 million
yuan, and bear the reasonable litigation expenses of RMB
55116.8 yuan.
Currently, the case is under the hearing of second
instance.
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