More than 50 hot soup shops in Jiaozuo used the word "Xiaoyao Town" as the defendant. What happened?

The Hulatang Association of Xiaoyao Town, Xihua County sued more than 50 Hulatang shops in Jiaozuo City to the court. The litigation reason of Xiaoyao Town Hulatang Association in Xihua County is that these 50 Hulatang shops in Jiaozuo City used Xiaoyao Town's trademark without their permission. More than 50 hot soup shops used the word Xiaoyao Town for hot search. It is reported that the merchants of 40 or 50 Hu spicy soup shops in Xiaoyao Town of Jiaozuo suddenly received a court summons, claiming 30,000 to 50,000 yuan for infringement!

These businesses in Jiaozuo can't understand this. "There are so many stores in Henan, Zhengzhou, Pingdingshan and Luohe ... If there is infringement, it can be more than hundreds, thousands or even tens of thousands. Is there a charge for this? Isn't this cutting leeks? "

The Hu Spicy Soup Association in Xiaoyao Town, Xihua County said that there was no intention of cutting leeks. In fact, as early as 2003, "Xiaoyao Town" registered its trademark. Before that, it was laissez-faire management and irregular operation. This year began to unify rights protection. Although it seems reasonable, do merchants buy it?

Over the past 30 years, the concepts of intellectual property rights such as trademark right, patent right and design have gradually taken root in people's hearts and become the basic knowledge that businesses should have. From the perspective of intellectual property protection, if Xiaoyao Town Hulatang Association does legally own Xiaoyao Town's trademark, naturally they have the right to resort to justice to safeguard their legitimate rights and interests.

The Hu Spicy Soup Association in Xiaoyao Town, Xihua County told these shopkeepers that if it is private, the shopkeepers can pay them 5,000 yuan; If you want to continue to use the words "Xiaoyao Town", every store must pay them an annual management fee of 1000 yuan, or wait for the court's ruling.

Therefore, before registering a trademark, we must do a good job of inquiring about similar trademarks. Trademark is the external expression of a brand. Whether it is a large company or a small shop, it is necessary to find out whether there are the same or similar prior trademarks through trademark inquiry, which will greatly reduce the risk of trademark registration.