Xinjiang Wusu Beer Co., Ltd. has been producing Wusu beer since 1986 and has registered multiple trademarks such as "WUSU" on beer and related products since 2006. At the same time, it adopts red cans as the packaging and decoration for 500ml Wusu beer. In 2020, a beer product named "Niaosu" appeared on the market, featuring a highly similar red can packaging to that of Wusu beer and labeled with names such as "Niaosu Beer (Nanjing) Co., Ltd." Xinjiang Wusu Beer Co., Ltd. then filed a lawsuit with the Nanjing Intermediate People's Court, requesting that the defendants producing and selling "Niaosu" beer be ordered to stop infringing, change their corporate names, eliminate adverse effects, and compensate for economic losses and reasonable costs of safeguarding rights totaling 2.08 million yuan. The court of first instance found that the defendants maliciously registered and used the trademark "Niaosu Beer NIAOSU" which constituted infringement, and ruled that they should stop infringing, publish a statement to eliminate the effects, and fully support the plaintiff's compensation request. The defendants appealed against the ruling. After the second instance by the Provincial Higher People's Court, the appeal was rejected and the original ruling was upheld.


1. Infringement occurs frequently
With the continuous increase in the market influence of Wusu Beer, the company has encountered over 20 cases of "brand free-riding" counterfeiting infringement, most of which occurred after the "Niaosu Beer" infringement case.
Liu Bin, Senior Legal Manager of Wusu Beer Company, stated, "The company's cost for safeguarding its rights is relatively high, but all lawsuits have been won." He pointed out that in recent years, China's judicial protection of intellectual property rights has been continuously strengthened. Courts have significantly improved in terms of sentencing severity and trial efficiency, cracking down harder on malicious infringement behaviors.
It is reported that Wusu Beer Company has filed two infringement lawsuits against "Wusu Jinsuang". The latest case is currently in the second-instance procedure. Liu Bin revealed to Red Star News that after winning the first two infringement cases, the infringer did not restrain itself but made minor modifications to the packaging and decoration, and successively launched the second and third generation of infringing cans.


II. Review of the rights protection journey
After reviewing multiple cases, Liu Bin found a commonality in the infringement patterns: many counterfeiting enterprises chose to register companies locally in Wusu, but organized production and sales in other places. Many consumers only purchase beer based on its appearance, making it difficult to distinguish between the real and the fake. Some consumers even mistakenly believe that these products are new products launched by Wusu Beer Company.
In 2021, "Xinjiang Duosu Craft Beer Co., Ltd.", a company registered in Urumqi, entrusted a third party to produce beer and used beer bottles bearing the "Wusu" trademark and the words "Wusu Beer" on the packaging. This infringing product was widely sold in multiple provinces and cities. Wusu Beer Company filed a lawsuit with the Urumqi Intermediate People's Court. After trial, the court found the infringement established and ordered the defendant to compensate for economic losses and reasonable expenses for safeguarding rights, totaling 250,000 yuan.
Another infringing enterprise registered "Wusuhe Beer Brewing Group Co., Ltd." in Wusu City, the birthplace of Wusu Beer, to produce and sell "Wusuhe" beer, which is highly similar to Wusu Beer, with the intention of causing consumer confusion. Wusu Beer Company then brought "Wusuhe" to the Kashi Intermediate People's Court. The court of first instance ruled that the defendant should stop trademark infringement and unfair competition, change its corporate name, and compensate for economic losses and reasonable expenses of 500,000 yuan. The Higher People's Court of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region upheld the original judgment in the second instance.
III. Intellectual property protection
Usu Beer Company displayed some confiscated counterfeit products in kind.
It is worth mentioning that the "Wusu River" infringement case has been successively rated as a "Typical Case of Intellectual Property Protection in Xinjiang in 2024" by the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, and recognized as a "Typical Case of Judicial Protection of Intellectual Property" by both the Xinjiang Higher People's Court and the Kashgar Intermediate People's Court.
According to the Xinjiang Higher People's Court, Xinjiang courts have continuously strengthened the judicial protection of intellectual property rights in recent years. On April 26, 2020, the Urumqi Intermediate People's Court unveiled the first intellectual property court in Xinjiang. The Xinjiang Higher People's Court also signed a cooperation framework agreement on intellectual property protection with the Market Supervision and Administration Bureau of the autonomous region, promoting collaborative protection between the judiciary and the administration and building a "comprehensive protection" framework for intellectual property rights.
In June 2023, the Xinjiang Higher People's Court launched a pilot program for a rapid trial mechanism for categorized intellectual property cases at the Urumqi Intellectual Property Court. The focus was on comprehensively promoting the trial of three types of infringement cases: works screening rights, information network dissemination rights, and trademark rights. The aim was to help parties reduce the cost of safeguarding their rights and enhance trial efficiency. In 2024, courts across the autonomous region accepted a total of 3,343 intellectual property cases of various types.
In recent years, Xinjiang courts have also actively provided judicial services to enterprises in areas such as interpretation of laws and regulations, intellectual property protection, and obtaining evidence for rights protection. Liu Bin stated that Wusu Beer Company has received professional guidance from the courts in multiple cases involving rights protection.
Liu Bin also pointed out that he could clearly feel the increasing emphasis placed by the country on intellectual property protection. "The current environment for enterprise rights protection has significantly improved, with stronger court judgments and noticeably higher court trial efficiency."
IV. Summary
Consumers choose branded products essentially based on their trust in the brand's reputation, product quality, and after-sales support. Currently, some enterprises, through unfair competition tactics such as imitating packaging, product labeling, and names, clearly intend to mislead consumers into purchasing non-genuine products. Such behavior not only damages the brand image but also infringes on consumers' rights to know, fair trade, and reasonable reliance interests. Furthermore, enterprises engaged in trademark infringement often have loopholes in management standards and quality control. If their products violate the Product Quality Law or Food Safety Law, they pose a potential threat to consumers' personal health. Strengthening intellectual property protection is not only necessary for maintaining market order but also an important measure to safeguard consumers' rights and interests.