Cases Study On The Dispute Of Font Tort With Founder Corporation Suing Procter&Gamble As An Example

With the development of computer technology, the fonts of Chinese characters have entered the era of digital development and various styles of Chinese characters have been successively researched and applied to all aspects of social life. However, due to the defects in the current Intellectual Property Law, insufficient academic research and frequent occurrence of infringements without any effective legal protection, this industry is thus caught in trouble and dramatically shrinking. Therefore, it is urgent to strengthen the protection of copyright of Chinese font family and single characters. The judicial practice field generally agrees that font family is on the whole categorized as arts and under the protection of Copyright Law. However, it is still controversial that whether single characters in the font family can be classified as arts that enjoy the protection of Copyright Law.To solve this issue, the author selects the Beijing Founder Electronics Co., Ltd (hereinafter referred to as "Founder Electronics") v. Guangzhou Procter&Gamble Co. Ltd.(hereinafter referred to as "P&G") Font Infringement Dispute Case and Hanyi Company v. Xiaobaxi Company Font Trademark Infringement Dispute Case to analyze. Both cases involve the controversy whether the usage of a single character in font family constitutes infringement. But the verdicts of the cases are sharply differentiated and thus arouse a hot discussion in the field of academy and business. This dissertation is divided into three sections:the first section briefs the cases and verdicts, and then points out the controversy in both cases; the second section gives a legal analysis around the controversies. Through comparison and assessment, the author affirms the legitimacy and necessity of classifying single characters in font families as arts that enjoy the protection of Copyright Law and negates the rationality of tacit consent ruled by court; the third section summarizes the legal issues involved in cases, points out the hazard of striping the copyright protection of single characters and the difficulties in ensuring the copyright protection of single characters. At last, based on the current legal status of our country, the author makes some recommendations to the issue of copyright protection of single characters in font family.