MGA ENTERTAINEMNT, INC. v. COMBUY CO LTD AND ANOTHER

MGA ENTERTAINEMNT, INC. v. COMBUY CO LTD AND ANOTHER

The Court found the Counterfeit Dolls bore identical or confusingly similar marks to the Plaintiff's registered marks and thus infringed under ss 18(1) and 18(3) of the Trade Marks Ordinance; the Website and promotional activities were directed at international customers including Hong Kong making the acts actionable locally; evidence showed both Defendants participated in the Mega Show and acted in concert and the Defendants failed to adduce documentary evidence to raise a real triable issue, so summary judgment was appropriate for trademark infringement and passing-off.

Citation
[2020] HKCFI 642
Parties
Plaintiff: MGA ENTERTAINMENT; 1st Defendant: COMBUY CO., LIMITED; 2nd Defendant: SHANTOU CITY COMBUY TOYS & GIFTS CO., LIMITED
Court
Court of First Instance
Jurisdiction
Hong Kong
Judgment Date
29 April 2020
Case Number
HCA2445/2017
Procedural Posture
Summary Judgment Application Trade Mark Infringement and Passing Off / Decision on Summary Judgment (judgment Granted)
Outcome
Summary judgment granted for Plaintiff against both Defendants
Legal Topics
Summary Judgment, Trade Mark Infringement, Passing Off, Jurisdiction of Website, Joint Tortfeasors
Source Language
EN
Trade Mark Law Passing Off Intellectual Property Civil Procedure Summary Judgment Trade Mark Infringement Jurisdiction of Website Joint Tortfeasors

Case Brief

Summary, issues, holding and outcome

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Parties

MGA ENTERTAINMENT

Plaintiff

COMBUY CO., LIMITED

1st Defendant

SHANTOU CITY COMBUY TOYS & GIFTS CO., LIMITED

2nd Defendant

Procedural Posture

Summary Judgment Application Trade Mark Infringement and Passing Off / Decision on Summary Judgment (judgment Granted)

Legal Issues

  1. 1 Whether the use of L.O.L. SURPRISE! and variants on the Counterfeit Dolls infringed the Plaintiff's registered trade marks
  2. 2 Whether the sale/offering of the Counterfeit Dolls amounted to passing-off
  3. 3 Whether the 2nd Defendant's website was directed at Hong Kong making the acts actionable locally

Ratio Decidendi

The Court found the Counterfeit Dolls bore identical or confusingly similar marks to the Plaintiff's registered marks and thus infringed under ss 18(1) and 18(3) of the Trade Marks Ordinance; the Website and promotional activities were directed at international customers including Hong Kong making the acts actionable locally; evidence showed both Defendants participated in the Mega Show and acted in concert and the Defendants failed to adduce documentary evidence to raise a real triable issue, so summary judgment was appropriate for trademark infringement and passing-off.

Court Disposition

Summary judgment granted for Plaintiff against both Defendants

Orders

  • Summary judgment granted against the Defendants for trade mark infringement and passing-off in favour of the Plaintiff
  • Costs awarded to the Plaintiff