Original title: Huayi sues the investment filmmaker of “The Next Stop” for 50 million
“The Next: The Ex” poster
(Source: Cover News)
On May 7, the cover reporter learned from the Beijing Intellectual Property Court that the court recently accepted the plaintiffs Huayi Brothers Media Co., Ltd. and Huayi Brothers Film Co., Ltd. sued the defendants Wuxi Guiying Jinhua Culture Media Co., Ltd. Infringement of trademark rights and unfair competition disputes by Film Industry Co., Ltd. Lianghuayi Company requested the court to order the defendant to immediately stop using the word “predecessor” in the title of the movie involved, and to compensate the plaintiff for economic losses and reasonable expenses of 50 million yuan.
Lianghuayi Company claimed that the “Predecessor” series of films (three films in total) received a good response in the market after its release, and the “Predecessor” label had formed a stable corresponding relationship with the series of films produced by the plaintiff, and had a relatively high reputation in the market. Reputation. At the same time, the plaintiff has registered the registered trademark of “Predecessor Raiders”, and the scope of approval includes the 9th category of “downloadable video files”, the 16th category of “posters”, and the 41st category of “providing online video recording, film production other than advertisements”, etc. goods and services.
The two plaintiffs believe that the film “The Next: Predecessor” starring Zheng Kai, Guo Caijie, and Li Xuedong, which was invested by the five defendants, was released on May 1, 2019. The defendant used “Predecessor” as the name of the film, and carried out prominent display and publicity, deliberately associated with the plaintiff’s “Predecessor” series of films, and used this as a selling point for confusing publicity, making the relevant public mistakenly believe that the film involved was the “Predecessor” produced by the plaintiff. ” series of films, may be associated with the plaintiff, and in fact lead to actual serious confusion among the public. This malicious free-rider behavior not only seriously violated business ethics, but also caused serious negative impact on the plaintiff’s reputation and damaged the plaintiff’s legitimate rights and interests.
Accordingly, the two plaintiffs requested the court to order the five defendants to immediately stop using the word “predecessor” in the name of the movie involved, stop related trademark infringement and unfair competition, compensate the plaintiff for economic losses and reasonable expenses of 50 million yuan and bear the litigation costs of the case.
The two plaintiffs argued that the “Predecessor” series of films were directed by Tian Yusheng and produced by Huayi Company. “Counterattack” was released on November 6, 2005, starring Zheng Kai and Guo Caijie; “Predecessor 3: Goodbye to Ex” was released on December 29, 2017, starring Han Geng, Zheng Kai, Yu Wenwen.
The case is currently under further trial.Return to Sohu, see more
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