"If you don't appeal within 30 days, Johnson & Johnson's blood sugar products can only be removed." Jong Li, head of Guilin Zhonghui Biotechnology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Zhonghui"), told the reporter of China Business News.
Zhonghui announced the ruling of the Trademark Review and Adjudication Board of the State Administration for Industry and Commerce (hereinafter referred to as the Trademark Review and Adjudication Board). According to the ruling, the famous trademark "ONETOUCH" of Johnson & Johnson, the largest blood glucose meter supplier in China, was ruled to be revoked.
An industry insider familiar with Johnson & Johnson said that in China's expanding blood glucose monitoring market, Johnson & Johnson ranked first with a share of over 30%, with annual sales of nearly 654.38 billion yuan. If Johnson & Johnson products change their trademarks hastily, the huge market space is likely to be filled by domestic manufacturers such as Sannuo Bio, Yicheng and Yuyue Medical.
"Because the company is huge and the mechanism is inflexible, Johnson & Johnson's traditional dominant position in the domestic blood sugar testing field has long been a spent force, and it seems only a matter of time before it is surpassed by domestic manufacturers in the OTC market." The above-mentioned person said. According to the ruling issued by the Trademark Review and Adjudication Board, in February 20119, Zhonghui filed a dispute application against Johnson & Johnson's "ONETOUCH" trademark (registration number: 3384889), requesting to cancel the trademark on the grounds that there is only one difference between "ONETOUCH" and "ONE TOUCH".
The Trademark Review and Adjudication Board said in its ruling that the trademark was revoked in accordance with the provisions of Article 11, paragraph 1 (2), Article 41, paragraph 1 and Article 43 of the Trademark Law of People's Republic of China (PRC).
"Johnson & Johnson's' One Touch' trademark was registered in China in July 2004. Since then, Johnson & Johnson has made a profit of at least 654.38 billion yuan because of this trademark. We can report their illegal profits and ask them to compensate us for our losses. " Huang Yunzhong, an attorney for the Guilin Zhonghui case, said.
According to a person in charge of medical device sales, in the domestic blood sugar monitoring market, Johnson & Johnson and Roche, two foreign giants, have obvious advantages in the first two markets, with a total share of over 60%. In the global market, products from Johnson & Johnson, Roche, Abbott and Roche occupy the top four.
According to the data of Diabetes Branch of Chinese Medical Association, the number of diabetic patients in China has exceeded 93 million, ranking first in the world. According to industry estimates, the domestic blood glucose monitoring market is between 2.5 billion yuan and 4 billion yuan. As the largest manufacturer in this market, Johnson & Johnson has an annual sales of about 654.38 billion yuan.
Obviously, Johnson & Johnson won't leave it at that, because the trademark was revoked and the huge market of China was lost. Jiang Ke, the media affairs manager of Johnson & Johnson medical devices, said that Johnson & Johnson had issued a statement for this purpose, saying: "Johnson & Johnson is very disappointed with the result of the dispute ruling of the Trademark Review and Adjudication Board of the State Administration for Industry and Commerce, and Johnson & Johnson will file an administrative lawsuit with the people's court according to law, requesting to revoke the above ruling and safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of the company."
"The relevant legal procedures of the company are being started, and we will file a lawsuit with the court on time according to the validity period of 30 days. Zhong Hui, the defense lawyer of Zhonghui, personally applied to the Trademark Review and Adjudication Board on 20 1 1, and the malice was very obvious. " Jiang Ke said.
According to the information released by both parties, Johnson & Johnson filed an application for trademark registration of "ONETOUCH" with the State Trademark Office on October 27th, 2002, and was approved on July 27th, 2004. Zhonghui believes that the company has successfully developed photoelectric blood glucose test paper with independent intellectual property rights as early as 2000, and issued the enterprise standard of blood glucose test paper on February 20, 65438, which is not only earlier than the application date of the disputed trademark, but also earlier than the earliest commercial use time claimed by the respondent when applying for registration in the United States (2001kloc-0/65438+).
"We don't comment on the rumors of' One Touc'. "
Johnson & Johnson's domestic business is divided into three parts, the first is medical device business, the second is pharmaceutical business, and the third is consumer goods business including cosmetics. According to public information, in 20 12, Johnson & Johnson's global sales reached US$ 67.2 billion, surpassing Pfizer to become the largest enterprise in the global pharmaceutical industry. Johnson & Johnson's steady-state blood glucose meter was the largest household blood glucose meter sold in American retail channels in 20 12. Johnson & Johnson has made it clear that it will go to court with Zhonghui again and the lawsuit will go through to the end. Some insiders believe that if Johnson & Johnson fully counterattacks, the outcome of the lawsuit is still unknown.
The discord between the two companies began before 2007.
Guilin Zhonghui obtained the registration license of blood glucose test paper on February 28th, 2002. According to the contents of this license, Zhonghui can legally produce blood glucose test paper for Johnson & Johnson ONE TOUCH series blood glucose meters in the United States.
At that time, Johnson & Johnson's blood sugar testing products shined in the domestic market. Because the blood glucose meter can only use test paper produced by the same manufacturer, Johnson & Johnson's blood glucose test paper is expensive, but it is still in short supply. The test paper produced by Zhonghui has been approved for use in Johnson & Johnson ONE TOUCH series blood glucose meters, and the price is much cheaper than Johnson & Johnson's test paper, which is tantamount to copying Johnson & Johnson's "back road".
"We are the only manufacturer in China that can produce Johnson & Johnson blood glucose meter test paper," Jong Li said, and the company was in good condition at that time. "Products are in short supply, and employees can't recruit into the enterprise without taking the relationship."
Although Zhonghui's annual sales peak is only 30 million yuan, which is far from the order of magnitude of Johnson & Johnson's global sales of tens of billions of dollars, Zhonghui's influence on Johnson & Johnson far exceeds the order of ten million yuan.
In 2006, Johnson & Johnson sued Zhonghui in a US court. The reason is that on June 5438+ 10, 2006, Johnson & Johnson found a large number of counterfeit Johnson & Johnson blood glucose test strips in the market. These test strips are printed with "ONE TOUCH", which is different from Johnson & Johnson's trademark with an extra space. However, these test strips lead to obvious deviation of blood sugar test values, which poses a danger to users' lives. Johnson & Johnson believes that the counterfeit manufacturer is Zhonghui Company in Guilin, China.
In March 2007, Johnson & Johnson sued Zhonghui Company in the Eastern District Court of new york on the grounds that Zhonghui Company conspired with others to counterfeit its registered trademark and its blood glucose test paper, and the claim amount was not less than US$ 50 million.
In 2007, Johnson & Johnson reported to the Ministry of Public Security and Guilin Public Security Bureau that the blood glucose test paper produced by Zhonghui Company infringed the trademark right, and asked the public security organ to file a criminal case for investigation. On June 22nd, 2007, 65438+20071October 22nd, Guilin Public Security Bureau put on record for investigation. In July 2008, Guilin Public Security Bureau detained seven Zhonghui employees, including the general manager of Zhonghui Company.
Guilin Zhonghui's performance was hit hard because of being sued. Yao Chongde, the general manager, died after being detained and released, and some key employees lost their ability to work due to mental problems. However, the case went through several sessions, and it was not until the Trademark Review and Adjudication Board made the above ruling on February 20 13 that a judgment was made.
"Johnson & Johnson refuses to accept and appeals. If the ruling of the Trademark Review and Adjudication Board is established, then Johnson & Johnson's trademark is invalid, and it is impossible to say that our trademark infringement is not established. However, if the court decides that the ruling of the Trademark Review and Adjudication Board is not established, it means that ONETOUCH is not a medical professional vocabulary, which is different from ONE TOUCH. Then say that our infringement is nonsense and we must compensate for the losses caused to us. In any case, Johnson & Johnson needs to give us a statement. " Huang Yunzhong said.