Brief Introduction of “FURLA” And “芙拉”

Established in 1927 by Mr. Aldo Furlanetto in Bologna, FURLA is a family business in Italy.  Standing for quality, colorful creativity, joyfulness and a contemporary Italian lifestyle, FURLA has acquired high reputation relying on its high-quality bags, shoes, and accessories for both women and men in around the world, including China.

Obviously, “FURLA” is a house mark and trade name of FURLA S.P.A., while “芙拉” (FURLA in Chinese), as the corresponding Chinese transliteration of “FURLA,” have been widely protected as a trademark in China since 2012 and is continuously used till now.  Through long-term and widespread use and promotion, the brands, “FURLA” and “芙拉” have already established stable relationship and they both refer to FURLA company.

Backgrounds

We, KANGXIN PARTNERS, P.C., were entrusted by “FURLA S.P.A.” (hereinafter referred to as “the opponent”) to file opposition actions against the published marks, “CHRISFURLA” (No. 46736281, Class 18), “    ” (付拉 FU LA) (No. 47654332, Class 25) and “凯芙拉” (No. 38674099, Class 18) (hereinafter referred to as “the opposed marks 1-3” respectively) with the National Intellectual Property Administration, PRC (“CNIPA”) in 2021, mainly focusing on the arguments that 1) the opposed marks constitute “similar marks over similar goods” compared to the opponent’s Cited Marks, “FURLA” and/or “芙拉”; 2) the opponent’s marks, “FURLA” and/or “芙拉” have acquired high reputation in China; and 3) the opponent’s marks, “FURLA” and “芙拉” have established sole relationship through long-term and extensive use and promotion.

At the beginning of 2022, the CNIPA supports our argumentations and decides to recognize the “high reputation” of “FURLA / 芙拉” and reject the aforementioned marks for registration.

Official Decisions

In the decisions, the CNIPA holds that registration and use of the aforementioned marks will damage the prior legitimate interests of FURLA / 芙拉, which have acquired a high reputation amongst the Chinese consumers.  The decisions are summarized as follows:

Inspiration of Cases

Given that the CNIPA has recognized the high reputation of both Latin mark, “FURLA” and Chinese character mark, “芙拉” (FURLA in Chinese) in judicial practice, we trust that it will be helpful to support the future opposition, invalidation or infringement cases to better crack down the squatters’ illegal filings or sales according to consistent examination criteria and legal spirits.  What’s more, this is also a milestone for the future “well-known status” in China!