In one of the Top 10 Cases published by the PRC Supreme Court for 2023, SIEMENS was awarded 100 million RMB (approximately 15 million USD) in a trademark infringement and unfair competition case.  

The registered trademarks “Siemens” and “SIEMENS” are owned by the right holders on washing machines and various other products. These trademarks have gained a definite degree of fame due to extensive promotion and long-term use by SIEMENS. Defendant and other companies have used the name “Shanghai Siemens Electric Appliance Co., Ltd.” as a commercial logo in their washing machine products, packaging, and promotional activities, which has led to a legal dispute. The court initially ruled that the actions of the Defendant constituted unfair competition rather than trademark infringement. However, upon appeal, the Supreme People’s Court determined that the intentional use of the trademarks “Siemens” and “SIEMENS” caused confusion among consumers and caused to trademark infringement. 

Regarding the amount of compensation, although the existing evidence is difficult to determine the actual loss of the Plaintiff or the Defendant’s profits from infringement, it is sufficient to establish that the Defendant’s profits from infringement  have clearly exceeded the statutory maximum compensation limit of 5 million RMB. In this situation, considering that Defendant has refused to provide financial information related to the infringing activities, it constitutes obstruction of evidence. The first-instance court referred to the media reports stating that Defendant’s annual sales amounted to 1.5 billion RMB and calculated the proportion of the sales of the accused infringing products based on the relevant facts of the case. Consequently, it was determined that Defendant should bear a compensation amount of 100 million RMB, which is found to be reasonable by the Supreme Court during the appeal.