Baijia sues OKAI over trademark infringement

Sichuan Baijia Food Company, one of the largest instant noodle manufacturers in China, has filed a lawsuit against OKAI Import Export GmbH with the Munich District Court in Germany, asking the court to cancel OKAI's trademark application of Baijia trademark and return the trademark to Baijia Food.

OKAI, a Germany-based department store run by a Chinese-German, is said to be a distributor for Chinese food manufacturers including SBFCL and Wangzhihe. It is reported that OKAI had preemptively registered the trademark of Baijia in the European Union areas.

It is learned that Baijia Food is using the legal team that helped Wangzhihe recover its trademark from OKAI. Wang Hongqing, a lawyer with Beijing Dingjin Hongye Company who is also a member of Baijia Food's legal team, believes that there is a high probability that Baijia Food will win the case as the trademark of Baijia had been registered in the Great Britain, which is part of the EU, as early as in 2004. What's more, like Wangzhihe, Baijia is a famous brand in China and the German court will certainly consider this.

Hu Yuanqiang, a representative from Baijia Food, says that they have contacted OKAI for talks for many times after learning its trademark was preemptively registered by the latter, but all the talks were fruitless.

It is said that OKAI has preemptively registered the trademark of seven Chinese food manufacturers including Wangzhihe, Baijia, Laoganma and Qiaqia. Chen Zhaohui, president of Baijia Food, has disclosed to the Chinese media that Baijia Food is considering joining forces with other Chinese companies to collectively claim back their trademarks.