Two Chinese companies ruled to compensate Kohler 27,000yuan

Recently the Beijing 2nd Intermediate People's Court made the first instance judgment on the case in which Kohler Co. sued Shanghai Deli Sanitary Ware Co. Ltd., Wenzhou Kenai Sanitary Ware Co. Ltd. and Beijing Meilian Tiandi Building Materials Market for patent infringement. The court ruled that the three defendants should immediately stop the infringement, and Deli and Kenai should jointly compensate RMB 27,000 to the plaintiff.

In May 2001, Kohler Co. was granted with a patent for the design of its faucet by the State Intellectual Property Office. In 2006, Kohler Co. found that a type of "得士达" faucet, which was similar to its patented design, was sold in Meilian Tiandi Market. The infringing faucet was manufactured and distributed by Deli and Kenai. In 2007, Kohler instituted a proceeding against the three defendants before the court, requesting the defendants to stop the infringement, destroy the infringing products and compensate RMB 200,000.

Deli and Kenai argued that Kenai registered the trademark "得士达DESHIDA" and licensed Deli to use the trademark. They insisted that their product was obviously different from Kohler's patented product.

Having compared the products of both parties, the court held that the defendant's product was identical with the plaintiff’s patented product. Therefore, the court ruled that Deli and Kenai should stop the infringement and jointly compensate RMB 27,000 to Kohler Co. Since Meilian Tiandi Market proved that it obtained the goods from legal source, it was exempted from punishment.