G2000
Encyclopedia
Michael Tien
Michael Puk Sun Tien is deputy chairman of New People's Party, and the member of Tsuen Wan District Council. He is founder of The G2000 Group and the former chairman of the board of the Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation . He joined the Liberal Party in 2008, a party led by his elder brother,...
in 1980. Tien also founded another clothing retailer U2 Clothing
U2 Clothing
U2 Clothing is a casual-wear clothing brand founded by Michael Tien in 1980 in Hong Kong. Tien founded G2000 at the same time, with both operating under the G2000 Apparel Limited brand.- Locations :...
at the same time, which operates under the company G2000 Apparel Limited.
G2000 is also a software product for Risk Management and Claims Management by this company.
The brand was originally catered for Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
n consumers and clothing sizes.
Associated brands
- G2000 (men and women)
- Blue Label (men and women)
- Pink Label (women only)
- Black Label (men and women; upper-end)
2006-7 trademark infringement case in China
A small company based in HangzhouHangzhou
Hangzhou , formerly transliterated as Hangchow, is the capital and largest city of Zhejiang Province in Eastern China. Governed as a sub-provincial city, and as of 2010, its entire administrative division or prefecture had a registered population of 8.7 million people...
, Zhejiang
Zhejiang
Zhejiang is an eastern coastal province of the People's Republic of China. The word Zhejiang was the old name of the Qiantang River, which passes through Hangzhou, the provincial capital...
Province, in the People's Republic of China
People's Republic of China
China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...
, filed a Chinese trademark
Trademark
A trademark, trade mark, or trade-mark is a distinctive sign or indicator used by an individual, business organization, or other legal entity to identify that the products or services to consumers with which the trademark appears originate from a unique source, and to distinguish its products or...
application for a hand-written logo of "2000" covering products including garment accessories such as gloves, scarves, and socks.
The company, 杭州市西湖区一科技咨询服务部, successfully registered the trademark in 1997. The "2000" trademark -- registration number 1094814 -- was transferred to an individual, a Mr Zhao (赵), in 2005.
In 2006-2007, Mr Zhao sued three local department stores as well as G2000 in the Hangzhou Intermediate People's Court for infringing his "2000" trademark. In January 2008, the Hangzhou court issued a decision against the defendants. The stores were ordered to stop infringing, and G2000 was ordered to pay damages of RMB 20 million (approx. USD 2.8 million), a record amount for trademark infringement in China.
It is to be noted that Mr Zhao operates a zombie company that neither manufactures, produces nor trade anything. It has been one of the most publicized case by Hong Kong media that deemed the case to be unfair as it Mr Zhao obviously registered the name and brought G2000 to court to seek profit. The public in interviewed in Hangzhou was not even aware of Mr Zhao's operations, especially in the clothing sector. Foreign observers agree that the court has discriminately ruled in since December 2000 after receiving a cease and desist
Cease and desist
A cease and desist is an order or request to halt an activity and not to take it up again later or else face legal action. The recipient of the cease-and-desist may be an individual or an organization....
letter from Mr Zhao's lawyer in November 2000.