For the first time Court in China grants well-known trademark status in a judicial proceeding to Unilever's OMO.

Unilever has a registered trademark in China  for the brand OMO under class 3 (Laundry preparation etc)

 A Chinese company (Wuxi Lian Hua Daily Commodities Technology Co, Ltd ) filed a trademark for the same for a different business and class ( class 11: heating apparatus, eclectic, germicidal burners, etc)

They have acquired registration on 6 September 2014, which is highly similar to the Uniliver OMO. 

Unilever took action against the similar mark owned by Lian Hua and took it to the China National Intellectual Property Administration, but to no avail. This was escalated to the Beijing Intellectual Property Court. 

Unilever’s OMO brand had become well-known in china before the filing of the trademark. The goods of the mark were associated with OMO’s reputable products. 

Lian Hua’s brand was identical to the brand  OMO  and if used on designated goods it would cause confusion among consumers. They might associate the product with the brand Unilever. This would harm Unilever’s interests in its well-known trademark. 

The court ruled to invalidate Lian Hua’s mark (19 Dec 2019). Later he appealed before the high court of Beijing. The trial court's decision was upheld. (26 Aug 2021)