VTVL Responds to Infringement Suit: Trademark Rejection Is Unrelated

Recently, Philip Morris International (PMI) has sued Weike Technology (Shenzhen) Co., Ltd. (founded in 2014, referred to as "Weike VEEX") and its OEM factory Moke, accusing the two defendants of trademark infringement and unfair competition. The lawsuit also includes a food comprehensive store in Shanghai that sells Weike e-cigarettes. Weike has responded that it has received the lawsuit.
 
The Southern Metropolis Daily's e-cigarette industry research team found that the trademark application for "VEEX Weike" in Class 35 has been rejected, but Weike denies that this is related to PMI's lawsuit.

PMI: VEEX is suspected of infringing its PMI VEEV series trademark

PMI demands that the three defendants immediately cease infringement and jointly compensate for damages of 3 million yuan and reasonable expenses of 150,000 yuan for protecting rights. PMI believes that Weike has used a mark similar to its registered VEEV series trademark in product production, sales, and promotion, and registered the domain name veextech for online promotion, while its OEM factory Moke and the food comprehensive store produced and sold infringing products, which also violates relevant trademark laws, constituting trademark infringement.

Weike stated to the Southern Metropolis Daily that regarding domestic trademark application issues, VEEX Weike has been actively communicating with trademark management departments. As a well-known domestic e-cigarette brand, the VEEX Weike trademark has been widely used in the domestic market. Meanwhile, VEEX Weike has initiated global trademark applications, which have been successfully applied for in some countries and regions.

The Southern Metropolis Daily's e-cigarette industry research team found that Weike Technology (Shenzhen) Co., Ltd. successfully registered the "Weike" trademark in Class 34 for tobacco and smoking devices and Class 35 for advertising and sales in 2019, but the letter trademark "VEEX" in Classes 34 and 35 is still under substantive examination, and the application for the "VEEX Weike" trademark in Class 35 has been rejected.

It is worth noting that, according to the China Trademark Network, PMI obtained exclusive rights to the Class 34 tobacco registered trademark in May 2016 and April 2021, and used international priority rights for registration.

From PMI's perspective, the VEEX mark used by the three defendants has not been approved for registration in Class 34 and is highly similar to its VEEV trademark in terms of letter arrangement, pronunciation, and overall visual appearance, which is likely to confuse the public and constitutes trademark infringement and unfair competition.

PMI also pointed out that Weike has used the mark "?" on product packaging and offline store decorations, which constitutes the use of an unregistered trademark as if it were a registered trademark, violating Article 52 of the Trademark Law. The Southern Metropolis Daily noted that on Weike's official website and public accounts, the brand logo is currently often displayed as "VEEX Weike" and frequently uses the "?" registered trademark symbol.

Review: Sued by Fogcore Technology for Infringement in June

This is the second time Weike has been sued in nearly a month. Last month, Fogcore Technology requested the court to order Weike to immediately cease infringement and eliminate the impact, while compensating for economic losses of 5.2 million yuan, claiming that Weike and Moke produced a large number of compatible atomizers for RELX models and used phrases like "RELX compatible cartridges" and "RELX and Weike cartridges can be used interchangeably" in marketing, leveraging RELX's brand recognition to attract consumers and gain improper benefits. Weike stated that the related accusations are unfounded and has entrusted a law firm to actively respond. If there are further developments, they will be announced promptly. Currently, the case has been filed and reviewed by the court on June 2 and was transferred to the trial court on June 3.