N°5 vs N°9, Chanel wins unfair competition case against Chinese lookalike perfume

Chanel’s iconic N°5 perfume was presumably the inspiration for Chinese fragrance producer Yiwu Story of Love Cosmetics Co., Ltd. (SLC), who’s N°9 perfume looked surprisingly similar in both its packaging and branding.

Chanel sued the producer and distributor when it began proceedings in November 2020, citing unfair competition and infringement of its trademarks.

IPKat, an intellectual property law blog, said the court found Chanel’s evidence to have been influential over the designs of N°9, and that its N°5 perfume “reached the distinctive level to distinguish the source of the commodity among the relevant public in China.”

The court subsequently found the trade dresses and packaging boxes to be very similar, “particularly for a public whose native language is not alphabet-based. The likelihood of misidentification by the relevant public was affirmed.”

In an appeal case, SLC argued that Chanel’s packaging of a white box with a black frame was not a defining mark of its product, as many other luxury perfumes have similar labelling and packing. The Chinese court said perfumes as luxury goods where “the bottle itself is a commercial sign to distinguish the source of the goods. Some copycat products are very similar in packaging to luxury packaging through deliberate imitation to attract consumers. However, its production costs are low, and profits are high, and there are hazards such as disrupting the market order and damaging the image of large brands, and this behaviour should be regulated.”

Article 6 of the Anti-Unfair Competition Law of the People's Republic of China stipulates that: ‘the unauthorized use of the same or similar logos as the name, packaging, decoration, etc. of commodities that have a certain influence on others, leading people to mistakenly believe that they are commodities of others or have a specific connection with others. constitutes an act of unfair competition.’

The Fashion Law Business echoed the decision by the court, which said: “The perfume bottle of the accused infringing product and the perfume bottle of Chanel N°5 perfume are of the same shape and material height. They are both rectangular transparent glass bottles with slightly curved shoulders. The bottle cap presents an octagonal rectangle with a diamond-shaped cut side; the upper part of the bottleneck is a raised ring design, and the lower part is surrounded by a decorative band of about 5 mm wide, with golden lines on the top and bottom of the decorative band; the proof label design of the perfume bottle. The color scheme, text arrangement, size ratio, and position are all highly similar. Since the packaging and decoration of the perfume involved in the case of N°9 Flower of Story company are basically the same as the inner packaging and decoration of the Chanel N°5 - is enough to cause the relevant consumers to misunderstand the source of the perfume, including the misunderstanding that the two parties have a commercial alliance and license.”

Article source: Fashion Law Business, IPKat