[Case Summary]

Caina Funo Wood Industry (China) Co., Ltd. has a high reputation in the field of flooring. In 2019, Caina Funo Company discovered that ALJ Home Furnishings Company had applied for its trademark "Caina Funo" in related categories such as flooring and furniture. The trademark was in the announcement period at that time, and if there were no objections, it would be approved for registration.

Caina Funo Company believes that this is not a coincidence, so they contacted us urgently to conduct a more in-depth investigation and analysis of the trademark applicant. After verification, ALJ Home Company and its shareholders have a large number of trademark records, with a focus on trademarks in the flooring and furniture fields. These trademarks have certain similarities with well-known brands in the flooring field, and some trademarks have been opposed or invalidated by relevant brand owners. We are confident that their trademark registration application is not in good faith. In fact, trademark applicants cannot reasonably explain why they want to apply for these trademarks that are similar to famous brands.

I accepted the commission and promptly filed an objection application against the maliciously applied "Caina Funo" trademark. At the same time, the objector also voluntarily filed a registration application, and timely expanded protection in areas with high relevance.

The case was heard by the China National Intellectual Property Administration and it was decided that the trademark of "Zenafuno" applied by ALJ Home Furnishing Company should not be registered.

[Case Analysis]

The success of the objection in this case cannot be achieved without the investigation and analysis of the subject of the objection, as well as solid argumentation. If there are a large number of trademark application records under the names of ALJ company and its shareholders that are suspected of obvious plagiarism and imitation of other well-known brands, which is the key point of this case, then another key point is that the trademark agency applied for in the names of ALJ company and its shareholders is the same, which is sufficient to prove malicious non coincidence.

Trademarks and brand names have similarities as well as differences. To avoid unnecessary disputes, it is necessary to remind all enterprises to protect their trade names together, as they collectively represent the enterprise.