Italian/Swiss watchmaker Panerai just lately introduced it had earned a “favorable determination” in a main mental property case in opposition to Chinese language producer Awsky relating to the sale of counterfeit Panerai timepieces. The court docket determination, handed down by Guangdong Shenzhen Luohu District Individuals’s Court docket in China on October 12, 2019, and finalized April 13, 2020, has demanded a direct halt to all gross sales of infringing timepieces together with a sizeable monetary compensation to Panerai. Awsky has been one of the flagrant offenders within the Panerai counterfeit house, producing 48 separate fashions infringing on Panerai’s marks and distributing them via at the least 16 completely different on-line gross sales platforms. Info exists to counsel that this isn’t the primary time the defendant has engaged in anti-competitive conduct with Panerai previous to the info of the present go well with. That is seen as a giant win for watch manufacturers who not often have many assets in stopping copycats and counterfeiters in China, the place most of the watches are produced. The case final result is probably going slightly slim, not setting a terrific precedent that will materially assist different manufacturers from saving time and court docket effort in stopping future offenders. It does, nevertheless, present that the courts in China are not at all deaf to the industrial issues brought on by unfair companies practices all the way in which to flat-out mental property theft.
Counterfeit luxurious watches aren’t a brand new phenomenon, and this authorized determination in Panerai’s favor is the most recent in a line of copyright instances by Swiss manufacturers stretching again for a few years. The newest determination in opposition to Awsky, nevertheless, stands out for a number of causes. First, there may be the origin of the court docket’s ruling to contemplate. China is a nation with notoriously lax requirements in the case of worldwide copyright legal guidelines, a lot in order that whole industries in China have been constructed up across the manufacturing of not simply imitations of luxurious watches, however excessive trend, toys, home equipment, and even whole vehicles. The truth that a Chinese language court docket has dominated in opposition to a producer in China so harshly, even after a number of offenses, may doubtlessly be the signal of a sea change in the way in which worldwide copyright regulation is enforced in China. Extra so, this isn’t a case the place all of the infringing conduct entails mere trademark infringement, i.e., copying the brand. On this occasion, all the watch and theme of the model are, in some senses, protected.
Most of the Awsky designs concerned within the court docket determination may not be referred to as counterfeits by the strictest definition of the phrase as a result of they aren’t actual copies embody protected emblems (logos). Not solely are the watches not labeled as Panerai merchandise, with a clearly seen Awsky model title, however most of the designs aren’t actual recreations of current Panerai merchandise. One of the vital vibrant examples of this entails an Awsky mannequin judged as a counterfeit of the black cased Panerai Radiomir PAM00532. Whereas this Awsky watch clearly copies sure points of the Radiomir’s design, together with the blacked-out cushion case, lumed sandwich dial, and straight lugs, there are a number of instantly recognizable variations between the 2 items. The Awsky’s crown is roughly double the dimensions of the Panerai’s with a drastically completely different form, the handset is a skeleton set copied from the Omega Seamaster Skilled slightly than any Panerai product, and the Awsky encompasses a three o’clock date window that has no counterpart on the Panerai.
None of that is to say what Awsky was doing just isn’t ethically reprehensible, but it surely results in questions on simply how efficient the precedent set right here might be. Many manufacturers, some thought of much more scrupulous than a marque like Awsky, typically use components of extra well-known watch designs in authentic fashions. For instance, a big portion of the dive watch market makes use of case designs that would, in principle, be referred to as copies or imitations of the Rolex Oyster case, and lots of related examples of idea reuse exist all through the trade. It appears unlikely that this court docket determination will fully erase this apply.
The choice of the Chinese language courts ought to most likely be seen as proof that corporations whose whole apply is supposed to trip on the nice and demand created by one other firm aren’t lawful. Awsky might have tried to curb strict trademark infringement however they nonetheless engaged in an excessive amount of conduct that makes their model, advertising, and gross sales really feel an excessive amount of like that of Panerai for the court docket to deem their enterprise practices harmless and non-infringing. The end result for different manufacturers is that solely when copycats are engaged in ongoing and rampant copycat-style enterprise practices will the court docket step in to close down the competitor. It’s not believed that this court docket end result will put a big damper on unlawful timepiece counterfeiting exercise. Extra so, Panerai has a authorized obligation to say and try to guard its claimed mental property rights. It is because, in lots of cases, trademark mental property rights may be misplaced or genericized if the unique rights house owners don’t attempt to defend them.
Whereas this authorized determination represents a step ahead for Panerai, and a step in opposition to the rampancy of Chinese language counterfeit manufacturing, the complete repercussions of this authorized determination will emerge over time. aBlogtoWatch will proceed to observe this creating story and report on any main updates. For extra data, please go to Panerai’s web site.
