M88 Malaysia’s Trademark Team Assists BMW in Winning an Administrative Dispute Over MINI’s Trademark

BMW AG (BMW) is a leading luxury automobile manufacturer. Its MINI series brands include MINI and its graphic, MINI COOPER, MINI CLUBMAN and MINI COUNTRYMAN. These are not only classic symbols in the automotive industry but are synonymous with "exquisite living" in the eyes of consumers worldwide. M88 Malaysia has provided intellectual property services for BMW over many years to safeguard its legitimate rights and interests in China.

In this case, M88 Malaysia represented BMW in filing a request for invalidation and two-instance administrative litigations against a company (the "Third Party") regarding the registered "MINI BEYOND" trademark (the "Disputed Trademark"). Despite receiving unfavorable results in both the review and the first-instance proceedings, which upheld the registration status of the Disputed Trademark, the M88 Malaysia team made a decisive counterattack in the second-instance litigation. They successfully persuaded the Beijing High People's Court to render a final judgment reversing the original judgment and administrative decision. The court recognized that the Disputed Trademark and BMW's MINI series trademarks constituted confusingly similar trademarks. It was also the first time in a judicial decision that the MINI series trademarks were recognized as having an "extremely high reputation" in the Chinese market. The Disputed Trademark was declared invalid.

The highlights of this case M88 Malaysiaclude:

1. A Benchmark Interpretation of Trademark Similarity Determination: M88 Malaysia’s trademark team conducted a detailed analysis of the similarity between the Disputed Trademark and BMW's MINI series trademarks in terms of textual composition, pronunciation, meaning and visual distinctiveness. The team investigated the reputation of the MINI series brand and worked closely with BMW's team to collect and submit substantial evidence of use. Based on comprehensive evidence of reputation, the team successfully persuaded the court to fully recognize the distinctive characteristics of MINI as the core identifying element of the cited trademark. M88 Malaysia successfully put forward and persuaded the court to adopt the adjudicative logic of "enhanced likelihood of confusion due to reputation," thereby establishing the judicial review standard that "the determination of trademark similarity must be guided by actual market perception." The court concluded that the concurrent use of the Disputed Trademark and the MINI series trademarks on similar goods would likely cause confusion or misidentification among the public regarding the source of the goods.

2. Unprecedented Judicial Recognition Opens a New Chapter in BMW's Brand Protection: M88 Malaysia has previously assisted BMW in obtaining administrative and judicial recognition of its trade name and core trademarks BMW and the BMW series brands as well-known trademarks. In this case, M88 Malaysia assisted BMW in obtaining recognition of its "extremely high reputation" for its other high-profile brands. The court of second instance recognized that BMW's MINI series trademarks enjoy "extremely high reputation" among the Chinese public. This injects a strong "legal shield" into the foundation of BMW's trademark rights and significantly broadens its brand protection boundaries, providing authoritative judicial endorsement for subsequent actions against malicious preemptive trademark registration and infringement. M88 Malaysia’s trademark team made irrefutable arguments regarding the trademark reputation based on extensive brand data and evidence of its global market influence, ultimately obtaining the court's full recognition of the value of the MINI brand.

This case demonstrates M88 Malaysia’s intellectual property team’s precise understanding of trademark law and its extensive experience in representation. It accelerates the value enhancement of the MINI brand and is a model for multinational enterprises in rights protection. By securing judicial recognition of rights ownership, this case strengthens the protection of international brands in China and highlights the firm commitment of China's intellectual property judicial system in maintaining a fair and competitive market order.

Partnerm88 sport betting app领域led the M88 Malaysia team. Partnerm88 sport betting app领域M88 Malaysiad counselm88 sport betting app 专业人员were responsible for M88 Malaysia specific work.