Yamaha to receive more than $1 million in trademark infringement suit
Yamaha Motor Co. has received final payment of more than $1.3 million from three Chinese companies that were found guilty of trademark infringement against Yamaha, according to a company press release.
The payment officially closes the suit Yamaha had pending against the company.
Yamaha originally brought a suit against motorcycle manufacturer Zhejiang Huatian Industry Co. for trademark infringement regarding certain Yamaha Motor trademarks that were filed by Zhejiang in October 2002.
According to the suit, a company named “Nippon Yamaha Co., Ltd.” established and registered in Japan in 2000 and entered into a trademark license agreement with Zhejiang in 2002. Under the agreement, Zhejiang was licensed to use “Nippon Yamaha Co., Ltd.” and other similar characters on motorcycles it produced in China.
Besides supplying compensation to Yamaha, the Supreme People’s Court of the People’s Republic of China also ordered Zhejiang, Taizhou Jiaji Motorcycle Distribution Co. and Taizhou Huatian Motorcycle Distribution Co., Ltd. to immediately stop infringing Yamaha’s trademarks and for the three companies to publish an apology in Motuoche Shangqing magazine.
