Zhou Lelun V. New Balance Company Trademark Infringement Case Analysis

In the practice of the cases of the trademark tort and judicial trial,it is disputed and difficult to define the “fair use” of trademark,to judge whether the use is infringement and to determine the amount of infringement compensation.Taking the case analysis as the research idea and beginning with the representative judicial cases,this paper chooses NEW BALANCE “the sky-high compensation case” which affects the society greatly as the object of study.Firstly,it discusses whether the acts of NEW BALANCE Company which takes“Xin Bailun” as its Chinese name after entering Chinese market and performs a serial of use behavior infringe the exclusive right of trademark registrant Zhou Lelun to use its registered trademark.Then,the protection of the trademark will be discussed.This paper analyzes and studies whether NEW BALANCE Company infringe the exclusive right to use its registered trademark from the perspective of whether the user is the trademark registrant,whether the defendant uses the trademark,whether the two trademarks are the same or similar,whether there is confusion between the same or similar trademarks and whether there are exemptions.Meanwhile,how to determine the amount of compensation and whether the amount of compensation ranges from 980000000 ti 5000000 is reasonable are discussed.At last,some suggestions about the protection of foreign trademark are given according to the questions in this case.