Master Zheng opened a supermarket in Haining . Some time ago, he received a court summons that the plaintiff was the manufacturer of Qingfeng toilet paper, and the other party believed that he had sold counterfeit products. But he said he didn't know.
Master Zheng’s Volkswagen Supermarket is located in Xucun Town, Haining City. He introduced that he received a mobile phone message in mid-October, which was a subpoena and other documents issued to him by the Haining Municipal People’s Court, asking him to go to the 20th Court on October 26.
Master Zheng : Just say I sell fakes or something. (Do you sell Qingfeng ?) Qingfeng, I don’t know whether it is true or not. The wholesaler sent it here, and I put it on the shelf anyway. In the document list, in addition to subpoena, there are also civil complaints, evidence materials, etc. Through the complaint, the reporter learned that the plaintiff is Jinhongye Paper Group Co., Ltd. and is also the right holder of the "Qingfeng" trademark.
On May 14, 2021, an intellectual property service company in Anhui purchased a small bag of paper in Master Zheng’s supermarket through evidence preservation and notarization of . After the company’s identification, it was found that it was inconsistent with the company’s products. Request the court to order the defendant to stop selling Qingfeng brand paper products that infringe on the plaintiff's exclusive right to trademark, and compensate the plaintiff for losses of 50,000 yuan, notarization fee, , and lawyer's fees. The notarization, consumption records, shopping process photos, purchased products, trademark registration certificate and other contents can be viewed in the evidence materials. Master Zheng provided the remaining toilet paper in the store that was identified as a counterfeit product by the manufacturer. He said he didn't know whether this paper was true or not.
Master Zheng : It seems to be well-founded. It is good for us to sell fakes, but I really don’t know. (Do you think you should be responsible?) Since there is something wrong, let's just say a little less
Master Zheng : (How much do you think it is appropriate) I'm going to say that I'm asking me to pay a few hundred yuan, and I feel uncomfortable. (Do you think you shouldn't be responsible for selling fakes as a merchant?) It's not that I deliberately bought fakes to sell them.
The reporter called the service hotline of Jinhongye Paper Group Co., Ltd., hoping to inquire about how to distinguish between real and fake Qingfeng toilet paper.
Jinhongye Paper Group Co., Ltd. Service Hotline : You need to send physical samples to the manufacturer for identification. The packaging is a simple description, and it is impossible to confirm the authenticity. Generally, if you feel troublesome, you can ask the seller what channel is his upstream picking up goods? (Whether the people in your company have collected evidence outside and sold counterfeit goods?) Our company also has a legal department responsible for combating counterfeiting. (How do they judge whether it is true or not in physical stores) It is difficult to judge, so you must confirm the physical samples in specific cases.
According to the introduction of the toilet paper manufacturer service hotline, if you want to determine the authenticity of the product, you can only send physical samples. Another indirect method is the traceability and purchase channel.
Master Zheng said that he really does not have the ability to judge the authenticity of toilet paper. Before receiving the subpoena, he did not know that he had "selling fake products" and he hoped not to bear responsibility.
reporter learned from the Haining Xucun Market Supervision Branch that during their daily law enforcement process, they encountered the situation mentioned by Master Zheng, and there are relevant laws and regulations to refer to: Article 64 of Trademark Law , "Selling products that do not know are infringing on the exclusive right of registered trademarks. If they can prove that the product was obtained legally and stated by the provider, they will not bear the liability for compensation."
Master Zheng : (Where did you come in?) That, well, there is a specialty in wholesale in Xiaoshan. (Is there any purchase order?) Yes.
The reporter learned through the market supervision department that if Master Zheng can prove that "the product is obtained legally by himself and stated the provider", he may not have to bear the liability for compensation, so can he prove it?
Master Zheng told reporters that the goods in his store were purchased from a department store in Xiaoshan, Hangzhou, and he found the purchase order in the store on the spot. However, this purchase order was from June last year, and the production date of this batch of green packaging paper in question was February this year.
The reporter checked the product code again and did not find the corresponding product in last year's purchase order. In the end, Master Zheng failed to provide the purchase order related to toilet paper this year, which means he could not prove that toilet paper was purchased from that Xiaoshan business.
Master Zheng : (Did you contact me after a problem? What's going on with the wholesaler?) I haven't asked about this yet, (you have to ask) He will definitely not say that the thing is fake, (How do you know if you don't ask, and the way to purchase) They can't say it's fake for you.
Master Zheng introduced that after receiving the court summons, he asked the toilet paper supplier to deliver 8 draws of paper and retained the surveillance. He hoped to prove his supply relationship with the other party through this video.
Then, the reporter came to this department store in Xiaoshan. After looking at the goods, the staff said that the delivery person was not an employee of the store.
Hangzhou Xiaoshan Department Store Staff : My family does not have this employee, (this is not yours) definitely not (he usually buys goods from you). There are very few people who buy goods. At the beginning, the first batch was taken at most. It took a few more years or two to tell me, and he came in from other places. (The production date of this paper is February this year) I haven't delivered it much this year.
In this department store, the reporter did not see the green packaging paper. The staff said that they also sell Qingfeng toilet paper, which are all provided by local brand dealers. Even if there is any problem, they can trace the source through the purchase order.
The reporter checked the records of Master Zheng's payment to the toilet paper supplier and found that 55 yuan was paid to a master who was also surnamed Zheng.
Master Zheng : This is another delivery person, (Is the goods taken here or the last name of Zheng) She also enters here, and he also enters there, (Who did you enter the fake paper) I can't figure it out. (I can't figure out what to do) Or find this person (where is this person) This person only (WeChat) (I don't know where his store comes from) Well (how to know this person) He came to our store to sell it (have you seen this person's business license) Then you didn't look (As a merchant, you find such a person to purchase goods, do you think it's easy to have problems) We don't know whether the hidden dangers are true or not.
The other party’s WeChat name is Zheng Moumou, and the name that Master Zheng noted to the other party was “Wholesale Xiaoshan Daily Life Department Store Zheng Moumou”. The two had no chat records. The reporter on the scene used Master Zheng’s WeChat to contact the person who came to deliver toilet paper before. The other party said that he did not have a store and the toilet paper was not imported through authorized dealers.
Zheng who sent toilet paper to Master Zheng : (Do you have a store yourself) I don't have a store (Do you have a business license?) What's the matter?
Zheng who sent toilet paper to Master Zheng : (The paper you entered from you seems to have a problem) We ordered it online, we don't use much, so we will help him get it. (Do we want to meet and communicate? Let’s see which online you ordered this product from and confirm the authenticity) We don’t have a store. Who knows the authenticity of these things? We don’t have this product anymore.
The other party hung up the voice call and did not provide information such as purchase methods. The reporter learned about the paper that was identified as a fake, Master Zheng purchased the price of 55 yuan and 8 yuan. No same model was found in Xiaoshan department store and other supermarkets. It is said that the wholesale price is 115 yuan and 16 yuan. If converted to 8 yuan, it is 57.5 yuan, which is more than two yuan more expensive than Master Zheng purchased the price.
Regarding the summons received by Master Zheng, the reporter also learned about the situation from the plaintiff Jinhongye Paper Group Co., Ltd. The staff of the Public Affairs Department introduced that this is a normal anti-counterfeiting and legitimate rights protection behavior of enterprises.
Public Affairs Department Staff : Our behavior is not aimed at anyone, or a particularly small convenience store. We absolutely have no intention. I think any company should have rights protection behavior. How do we find that there are small stores? Our sales team keeps visiting underground. Their purpose is not to fight counterfeiting, but to promote sales. If there is a counterfeit, they will definitely provide timely feedback. We have verbally warned countless times that you are not our goods and have not been authorized. We cannot sue every time, it has a cost.
Public Affairs Department Staff of Jinhongye Paper Group Co., Ltd. : (They said they didn’t know how to tell which one is true or false) I think as a store opening, you should know that you have to sell it accordingly. All our dealers have authorizations. When the dealers place goods down, the authorization can be copied. All those who are sued by us cannot come up with any authentic authorization given by the dealer. They have not fulfilled it. They should identify the formal purchasing channels themselves. Is it genuine?
On the morning of October 26, Master Zheng participated in pre-trial mediation at the Haining Municipal People's Court. He said that he still couldn't accept the amount of compensation he talked about that day.
Master Zheng’s lesson, I hope more shop owners can learn from it. Whether it is tissues or other products, the purchase channels must be standardized. This is responsible to consumers and protection for oneself.
