New Balance continues to make headlines. This time, however, over a trademark lawsuit with New Barlun, as originally reported by Hypebeast. A court in China ruled that New Barlun’s “N” logo was too similar to the Boston-based brand’s rendition.
The Shanghai Huangpu District Court ruled that New Barlun’s “N” logo violated New Balance’s trademark rights due to the logo being, “visually and conceptually” similar to the NB design. In addition to that, the court found that the Chinese brand acted in bad faith after ignoring a previous interim injunction ordering it to cease production and manufacturing. During that production period, the Chinese brand benefitted from the similarity and reputation of New Balance.
This isn’t the first time that New Barlun has appeared in front of judicial powers.
The company was found to have engaged in “unfair competition” by the Shanghai Pudong District Court which led to paying a fine of roughly $1.54 million USD.
New Barlun’s distributor, Shanghai Lusha Fashion Co., was found jointly liable and had to pay nearly $15,000 USD to the total damages paid to New Balance.
It is very encouraging that the court has once again recognized the legitimacy of New Balance’s intellectual property rights which will help ensure that our brand is safeguarded and protect our consumers’ interests
Dan McKinnon, senior counsel of intellectual property and global brand protection for New Balance
