On April 13, the Intermediate People's Court of Huai'an City, Jiangsu Province sued the defendants Yunnan Education Publishing House, Anhui Science and Technology Publishing House, and Huaxia Publishing House for trademark infringement against the plaintiff Shanghai Children's Publishing House Co., Ltd. (continued with the original name: Children's Publishing House) First-instance judgment was made in a series of disputes over rights and unfair competition.
The court held that the three defendants' use of "100,000 Whys" in their published book titles and book covers without permission constituted both unfair competition of unauthorized use of the unique names of well-known products, and trademark infringement, and ordered The three defendants immediately stopped the infringement and compensated for the losses.
This series of cases has become an important case in which the "100,000 Why" brand has once again obtained judicial protection of intellectual property rights after the Children's Publishing House launched the first shot against Sichuan Tiandi Publishing House in Shanghai Putuo District People's Court.

Sixth Edition "One Hundred Thousand Whys"

The well-known "One Hundred Thousand Whys" is plagued by counterfeit books
Founded in 1952, Children's Publishing House is the first professional publishing house for children in New China.
On the eve of International Children's Day on June 1, 1961, the first edition of "One Hundred Thousand Whys" became an instant hit after it was launched across the country. For more than half a century, "One Hundred Thousand Whys" became an important scientific enlightenment book for Chinese teenagers. .
Since then, the second edition in 1964, the third edition in 1970, the fourth edition in 1980, and the fifth edition (new century edition) in 1999 were successively published. Colorful and exquisite illustrations, what remains unchanged is the Children's Publishing House's dedication to making books for readers and the craftsmanship of excellence, as well as the writing tradition of "big scientists write small popular science".
In 2013, the sixth edition of "One Hundred Thousand Whys", which took five years to compile, was presented to readers with brand-new content, system and style. This set of books is edited by Academician Han Qide, Vice Chairman of the Standing Committee of the 11th National People's Congress, Vice Chairman of the 12th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, and Honorary Chairman of the China Association for Science and Technology. Yuan, Wang Pinxian and other 21 academicians of the two academies serve as the chief editors of the volumes, and 768 outstanding scientists and popular science writers participate in the compilation.
Feng Jie, president of the Children's Publishing House, said: "It is unique in the history of my country's publishing that a set of popular science books can gather such a strong lineup of academicians from the two academies. When we put the six editions of "One Hundred Thousand Whys" together, The dramatic changes of the times and the rapid scientific progress are all reflected in this book as a series of interesting questions."
In its more than 60 years of publishing history, "One Hundred Thousand Whys" has won numerous awards, including the "China Publishing Government Award", the highest award in the field of press and publication in my country, the "Second Prize of National Science and Technology Progress Award" in the field of science and technology, "Shanghai Municipal Science and Technology Progress Award" and so on.
However, it is such a set of popular science books that has won many awards and has influenced generations of Chinese people, but it is plagued by counterfeit books.
In recent years, a large number of counterfeit books titled "100,000 Whys" have appeared on the market. Counterfeit books not only have titles such as "new edition", "upgraded edition", "collector's edition", "painted edition", and "children's edition", but some even openly declare: "As we all know, "One Hundred Thousand Whys" has influenced generations of China. It is a classic reading for people, and it is also the popular science book with the largest circulation in China. This book is an upgraded version of "One Hundred Thousand Whys"."
Some of these counterfeit books cover more than ten scientific fields and as many as hundreds of questions. There is only one so-called "editor-in-chief". Not only does there not even have a formal editorial board, but even the author who actually wrote it cannot be found. . The content obtained from the patchwork is seriously homogenized, not only there are errors in language and sentences, but also the knowledge is outdated, and the science is full of loopholes, which cannot stand scrutiny at all. Counterfeit books not only fail to spread scientific knowledge and promote the spirit of science, but are poisonous to children.
Due to the limited time and energy of parents, although the "100,000 Why" brand is highly recognized and trusted, it is very easy to get confused when purchasing "100,000 Why". The parents of "Zhongzhao" mistakenly believe that the counterfeit books they bought are the classic popular science books they want to buy.
Counterfeiting "100,000 Whys" popular science books not only squeezes the market space of "100,000 Whys", bad money drives out good money, but also blurs consumers' cognition of "100,000 Whys", a classic popular science brand. It has caused serious damage to the classic "100,000 Why" popular science brand created by the Children's Publishing House for 61 years. Therefore, in the past two years, the Children's Publishing House has taken a number of rights protection activities in accordance with the law.
In June last year, the Children's Publishing House took an important step on the road of rights protection: Shanghai Putuo District People's Court sued the plaintiff Shanghai Children's Publishing House Co., Ltd. against the defendant Sichuan Tiandi Publishing House Co., Ltd. for trademark infringement and unfair competition disputes A public judgment was made in the first instance, and the plaintiff Shanghai Children's Publishing House Co., Ltd. won the case. "One Hundred Thousand Whys" is not a common name for popular science books, and its legitimate rights and interests should be guaranteed
This not only fired the first shot of the "100,000 Why" popular science brand's rights protection, but also marked the beginning of its comprehensive rights protection. This time, the Children's Publishing House actually filed a total of six lawsuits against six publishing houses in the Huai'an Intermediate People's Court. What these six publishing houses have in common is that they have all worked or are cooperating with the bookseller Beijing Chuangshi Zhuoyue Book Co., Ltd. to publish counterfeit "One Hundred Thousand Whys" books.
After receiving the response materials served by the Huai'an Intermediate People's Court, three of the publishing houses have a positive attitude. They fully respect the "100,000 Why" brand of the Children's Publishing House and have negotiated with the attorneys of the Children's Publishing House for many times. Communication, and finally reach a settlement, or reach a mediation under the auspices of the Huai'an Intermediate People's Court.
The three publishing houses, Yunnan Education Publishing House, Anhui Science and Technology Publishing House, and Huaxia Publishing House, are the same as Sichuan Tiandi Publishing House, the defendant in the Shanghai Putuo District People's Court case last year. Ltd. handles cases.
According to investigation, Beijing Chuangshi Excellent Books Co., Ltd. has cooperated with more than 20 publishing houses to publish dozens of counterfeit "One Hundred Thousand Whys" books. A classic reading for generations, this book is an upgraded version of "One Hundred Thousand Whys" and other expressions, deliberately connecting the counterfeit books with the classic popular science books of the Children's Publishing House.
In 2021, Beijing Chuangshi Excellent Books Co., Ltd. was punished by cultural law enforcement for engaging in the publishing business of publications without authorization: 15,038.98 yuan of illegal gains were confiscated; 1,840 illegal books were confiscated; and a fine of 1,086,345 yuan was fined. In addition, Beijing Chuangshi Excellent Books Co., Ltd. was ordered to stop publishing illegal advertisements and fined 200,000 yuan for unauthorized use of "recommended by the Ministry of Education" and other content on the book cover as advertising terms.
In the series of cases of Huai'an Intermediate People's Court, the lawyer representing the defendant has always maintained that many publishing houses have published popular science books titled "One Hundred Thousand Whys" in recent years. Therefore, "One Hundred Thousand Whys" has become a The common name of popular science books, which any publisher has the right to use.
In fact, there are many popular science encyclopedia books in the book market, such as "Science Knows All", "Children's Quiz Encyclopedia", "Wonderful Questions and Answers", "1000 Quirky and Interesting Questions", "Science around you is really interesting", "Let's look at why" "Children, do you know?" "My Pocket Encyclopedia · Mom's 100 Questions" "Children Thinking About the World" "Things About Science" "Why? You Know!" "You Ask Me Answers" "A Hundred Questions Hundred Answers" And so on, the list goes on. That is to say, "One Hundred Thousand Whys" is one of the names of many popular science books, and it is not a common name for popular science books at all.
Therefore, the Huai'an Intermediate People's Court determined that "100,000 Whys" is not a common name for question-and-answer books based on the objective reality of the publishing industry and the use of "100,000 Whys" by the Children's Publishing House.
The Huai'an Intermediate People's Court also held that: "Since the publication of "One Hundred Thousand Whys" by the plaintiff's Children's Publishing House in 1961, the existing evidence cannot prove that the overall sales, circulation and popularity of similar books of any publishing house are higher than those of the plaintiff. , it is precisely because of the reputation and popularity of the products accumulated by the plaintiff's publicity in the early stage that the clinging behavior of other players in the market is rampant, and the final decline in sales is also affected by the infringement factor. In this case, the defendant accused the plaintiff of the infringement of the infringement As a defense to its decline in popularity, this court is really hard to believe." Children's Publishing House will continue to increase the power to confirm rights
In recent years, the trademark confirmation and brand protection work of Children's Publishing House has been highly recognized and strongly supported by competent authorities at all levels.
Children's Publishing House has successfully registered a number of "100,000 Why" trademarks in the 16th category of books, and these trademarks have undergone many "challenges" in procedures such as trademark review, opposition and invalidation. The State Intellectual Property Office has determined in several rulings that the "100,000 Why" trademark has achieved high popularity and recognition after long-term use in the fields of books, printed publications and other commodities, and can play a role in distinguishing the source of goods as a trademark. effect.
Not only that, the "Guidelines for Trademark Examination and Trial" promulgated in 2021 will also include "100,000 Why 100,000 WHYS" graphic and text combination trademarks as typical cases. The "Guide" stipulates, "In this case, the trademark registration applicant submitted the printing quantity statistics, award-winning materials, publicity reports, audit reports and other use evidence materials of the book "One Hundred Thousand Whys", and the above evidence can prove that the applied trademark is in the designated area. The book publishing and other services used have been known to the relevant public in China by the applicant, and the distinctive features of the trademark have been obtained, which are marks that can be registered as trademarks within the meaning of Article 11, Paragraph 2 of the "Trademark Law".
In December last year, the Shanghai Publishing Association issued a statement expressing affirmation and support for the rights protection of the Children's Publishing House. The association believes that the cultivation, use, management and protection of the "100,000 Why" brand by the Children's Publishing House are based on a solid intellectual property law foundation. , and has played an exemplary role in improving its own intellectual property management system.
In February this year, the Shanghai Intellectual Property Office listed the word mark "100,000 Why" and the graphic and text combination mark "100,000 Why 100,000 WHYS" in the "Tenth Batch of Shanghai Key Trademark Protection List".