Sun Shangwu
      8月30日，2005
      体育用品巨头阿迪达斯起诉三个中国公司侵犯知识产权，并寻求300万元（37万美元）的赔偿。
      北京第一中级人民法院昨天就这个案子举行了听证会。
      阿迪达斯指责总部在福建的爱乐服装鞋业有限公司使用与阿迪达斯三条杠标志非常类似的设计。
      原告于在2002年12月的北京市场上发现爱乐产品上这样的标志，主要是运动鞋和服装，以及它的推广材料，阿迪达斯的律师黄辉（Huang Hui）说
     “爱乐公司的标志可以被视作是阿迪达斯和耐克标志的组合。”黄说。
      爱乐的行为已经侵犯了阿迪达斯注册商标的权利，黄说。
     “它使用与阿迪达斯标志类似的标志来误导消费者，以此获取高额利润。”黄说。
      他指出这样的行为侵犯了阿迪达斯的商标使用权利，构成了不正当的竞争。
      同时另外两个中国公司，即北京建利亚（Jianlijia）爱乐运动商品专卖店和北京瑞冠体育用品公司被阿迪达斯公司指控销售爱乐具有侵权标志的产品。
      昨天没有得到爱乐公司律师的评论。
      北京建利亚专卖店，创立于2002年8月以销售爱乐公司的产品，在其辩护材料中它认为：
     “公司生产的带有‘爱乐’标志的产品已经被消费者所广泛接受，享有非常高的声誉。”
      所谓的与阿迪达斯“类似”的标志，即“"Aile Jitu"，仅仅使用在北京市场上非常有限的运动鞋上面。
      “作为一个享有盛誉和高品质产品的大公司，爱乐没有必要使用与阿迪达斯类似的标志来扩大影响和获取不正当的利润。”建利亚专卖店说。
      它同时说阿迪达斯没有足够的证据来支持它三百万元（37万美元）的赔偿要求。
法庭昨天没有作出任何的裁决。
      世界著名品牌容易成为知识产权侵犯的受害者，一个知识产权代理机构的专家说，他拒绝表明身份。
      然而在许多的案例中间，制造商们经常被发现使用世界著名品牌的盗版商标，中国政府已经加强了对类似行径的查处。
     “但是这个案子不一样，因为它并没有使用与阿迪达斯一样的标志，很难说阿迪达斯能否赢得这个官司。”这个专家说。
      （引自China Daily，翻译：Rainpoem）

                                 Adidas in courtroom tug-of-war over logo
   By Sun Shangwu  
   Updated: 2005-08-30 08:54
   The sportswear giant Adidas launched a lawsuit against three Chinese companies for intellectual property rights violation and seeks 3 million yuan (US$370,000) in compensation.
   The Beijing No 1 Intermediate People s Court held a hearing on the case yesterday.
   Adidas International BV accused the Fujian-based Aile Clothing and Shoe Company of using a design very much like that of the three-stripe Adidas trademarked logo.
   The plaintiff found the logo on Aile products, mainly sports shoes and clothing, as well as its promotion materials, in a Beijing market in December 2002, said Huang Hui, an attorney for the Adidas.
   "The logo of the Aile company can be seen as a combination of the trademarked logos of Adidas and Nike," said Huang.
   Aile s actions have violated the registered trademark rights of Adidas, said Huang.
   "It misleads consumers by using a design similar to Adidas s logo so as to make high profits," said Huang.
   He noted that such practice infringes upon the trademark-using rights of Adidas and constitutes unfair competition.
    While the other two Chinese companies known as the Beijing Jianlijia Aile Sports Goods Shop and the Beijing Ruiguan Sports Goods Company were accused by Adidas of selling Aile products sporting the offending logos.
    The Aile company s lawyer was not available for comment yesterday.
    The Beijing Jianlijia shop, which was set up in August 2002 to sell products of the Aile company, did argue in its defence materials that:
    "The products manufactured by the company with the trademark of  Aile  have been widely accepted by consumers and enjoy a very high reputation."
     The so-called " similar sign" to Adidas , known as "Aile Jitu," was used only on a limited number of sneakers in the Beijing market.
     "As a big company enjoying fame for high-quality products, it is unnecessary for Aile to use a similar logo to Adidas to increase its influence and make inappropriate profits," said the Jianlijia shop.
     It also said Adidas does not have enough evidence to support its 3 million yuan (US$370,000) compensation claim.
    The court did not make any ruling yesterday.
     World famous brands are easy prey to intellectual property rights (IPR) violations, said an expert from an IPR agency, who declined to be identified.
     But in many cases, producers were usually found to be using the pirated trademarks of world famous brands. The Chinese Government has intensified its efforts to fight such practices.
     "But this case is different because it does not use the same logo as Adidas, and it is hard to say whether Adidas can win the case or not," said the expert.