I believe that when we go out to eat, we will often see a catering brand called "True Kung Fu". Its logo is very easy to be recognized because it takes Bruce Lee, a kung fu star known all over the world, as its Logo.

The words "true kung fu", coupled with the icon that resembles Bruce Lee, are easy to associate with: this is the meal served by Bruce Lee's family. But in fact, this store has nothing to do with Bruce Lee.

Because of this, the real kung fu stand was claimed by Bruce Lee's daughter for more than 200 million.

Bruce Lee's daughter sued True Kung Fu:Claim for economic loss of 210 million yuan

According to Sina Entertainment, the real kung fu restaurant, which used the icon that resembles Bruce Lee for 15 years, was sued by Bruce Lee Co., Ltd. to the Shanghai second Intermediate people's Court for 200 million yuan.

According to the information, the legal representative of the company is Bruce Lee's daughter (Shannon Lee, Chinese name: Li Xiangning). The company demanded that real kungfu immediately stop using the image of Bruce Lee, clarify in media pages for 90 consecutive days that it had nothing to do with Bruce Lee, and asked the court to order true kungfu to compensate him for 210 million yuan in economic losses and 88000 yuan in reasonable expenses for safeguarding his rights.

Li Xiangning has been buying back the rights to her father's films and trademarks since several years ago, and she plans to reintegrate these resources to make Bruce Lee a global brand.

Real kung fu response

On the morning of the 26th, Zhenkongfu responded through its official Weibo Corp: "whether our trademark is infringing has been disputed many years ago, but there has been no administrative or judicial conclusion on whether our trademark is infringed or revoked." After many years of prosecution, we are also very confused and are preparing to respond to the lawsuit. "

Netizens' comments

After this matter came out, it was quickly searched by Weibo Corp, and many netizens commented that they thought it was always authorized that real kung fu would regard Bruce Lee as their own logo.

Real Kung Fu and Bruce Lee

According to the official website of True Kung Fu, True Kung Fu Restaurant Management Co., Ltd. was founded in 1990, but the fast food chain was not originally called "Real Kung Fu". It was first called "168 Steamer Fast Food Restaurant" and later renamed "Shuangzi". Later, in 2004, Cai Dabiao, founder of "True Kung Fu", invited Ye Maozhong, the first planner in China, to plan for him, and then began to use the image of "Kung Fu Dragon", which closely resembles Bruce Lee, and combined with the word "True Kung Fu" to form a trademark for use. Since then, real kungfu catering has developed rapidly and won a number of catering honors all over the country.

At that time, Zhenkongfu did not ask Bruce Lee's family to buy an image license, which laid a hidden danger for the future intellectual property dispute with Bruce Lee's son and daughter Li Xiangning.

The information collected from Li Xiang Ning Fang shows that from the beginning, the real kungfu side clearly uses the image of Bruce Lee as the company logo. The notes on their registration form read as follows: "True Kung Fu Graphics" is a styling pattern composed of Bruce Lee's kung fu pattern and the combination of "True Kung Fu" and "steamed nutrition expert". Today, there are more than 600 chain stores across the country, with an annual turnover of more than 10 billion yuan, and the valuation of "Real Kung Fu Catering" has reached 1.6 billion. Li Xiangning company referred to Jackie Chan's endorsement to the "real kung fu catering" final "claim of 210 million".

The reporter checked the website of the State Trademark Office and found that the real kungfu company had registered the image of the case as a trademark several times in 2005, 2006 and 2012.

According to Article 45 of the Trademark Law, a trademark that infringes upon prior rights is invalid and shall be filed within 5 years from the date of trademark registration.

With regard to these trademarks, some lawyers said that for Bruce Lee, the difficulty in safeguarding rights this time is that the defendant can really argue that the image has been registered as a trademark and is being used as a registered trademark, then the two sides may face trademark disputes. Bruce Lee may only get some compensation through litigation, but it is difficult to stop the continued use of real kung fu.

With regard to the trademark issue, there has long been a confrontation between Li Xiangning and Zhenkung Fu.

In 2010, Li Xiangning said that she had gradually bought back the ownership of her father Bruce Lee's films and trademarks in the United States, and would set up a rights protection office in China to protect the copyright of Bruce Lee's image. According to a 2010 report in Nanfang Daily, Li Xiangning contacted the Trademark Office of the State Administration for Industry and Commerce, which replied that the right to development and utilization of Bruce Lee and his English name 'BruceLee' should belong to his heirs.

In the United States and most countries and regions, Bruce Lee's image, name and other trademark patents belong exclusively to Bruce Lee enterprises, foundations and Li Xiangning mother and daughter, but at that time, some related enterprises involved in Bruce Lee trademark disputes complained that they did not use photos of Bruce Lee himself, but martial arts modeling.

In this regard, the State Trademark Office said that as long as Bruce Lee's heirs have different opinions, they can raise objections in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Trademark Law of the people's Republic of China, and the Trademark Office will make a ruling on the basis of the facts and reasons provided by both parties.