Recently, Janlea’s lawyers, i.e. Mr. Zachary Zhang and Ms. Shuhua Li, as the authorized agents of Estee Lauder), won the final judgment of administrative lawsuit on review of opposition against the trademark “XIN YA SHI LAN in Chinese.”

In order to revoke the TRAB’s decision and judgment in the first trial, the appellant (former defendant in the first trial), Guangzhou Bai Yun Eslong Cosmetics Factory, lodged an appeal to Beijing High People's Court with the grounds that there are noticeable differences between trademarks of both parties in terms of pronunciation, character pattern and meaning and that the disputed trademark is the embodiment of its legitimate right to use its own trade name.

After hearing conducted by Beijing High People's Court, the final judgment ascertained that the opposed trademark “XIN YA SHI LAN in Chinese” and “YA SHI LAN DAI in Chinese (with ‘SHI’ and ‘LAN’ in traditional Chinese characters)”are both word trademarks made up of 4 Chinese characters, among which words “YA SHI LAN in Chinese” are the same. In addition, as there are no virtual differences between trademarks of both parties in aspects of meaning and overall visual effect, the said trademarks, with similar pronunciations, constitute similar marks. Given evidence materials submitted by the third party and the fact that trademarks of both parties constitute similar marks, the opposed trademark’s use on goods identical or similar to those covered by the cited trademark such as cosmetics (except dentifrices) is liable to cause confusions and misidentifications among the relevant public. What’s more, the argument that the disputed trademark is the embodiment of its legitimate right to use its own trade name was not put forward during review and adjudication stage. Therefore, the judgment in the first trial will be maintained.