Mondelez fined €337.5 million;Nike secure partial win in Germany

Courts nationwide in China handled 319 cases involving punitive damages, a 117% increase year-on-year, said Ding Guangyu, Deputy Director of the Third Civil Division of the Supreme People's Court, at a regular press conference held on May 28. The awarded amount totaled 1.16 billion yuan, a 3.5 times increase from the previous year, suggesting that the cost of infringement and illegal activities has risen significantly. In technical cases involving punitive damages, the average award amount reached approximately 12.41 million yuan per case, highlighting strengthened judicial protection of intellectual property in key areas, emerging industries, and critical core technologies. Ding also stated that the Supreme People's Court will continue to intensify the application of punitive damages, taking strong actions against malicious and serious infringements.

5月28日，最高人民法院民事审判第三庭副庭长丁广宇在国家知识产权局5月例行新闻发布会上介绍，2023年全国法院适用惩罚性赔偿案件319件，同比增长117%，判赔金额11.6亿元，同比增长3.5倍，侵权代价和违法成本显著提高。在适用惩罚性赔偿的技术类案件中，平均判赔额达到每件约1241万元，体现了对重点领域、新兴产业和关键核心技术的知识产权司法保护力度。丁广宇表示，最高人民法院还将继续加大惩罚性赔偿的适用力度，对恶意侵权、严重侵权行为重拳出击。

Oreo maker Mondelez International was fined 337.5 million euros by EU antitrust regulators last Thursday for impeding cross-border trade of chocolate, biscuits and coffee products between EU countries. The Commission said Mondelez had engaged in anti-competitive deals and had also abused its dominant position in breach of EU antitrust laws. The company's fine was reduced by 15% after it acknowledged its wrongdoing. The Commission said that Mondelez limited the territories or customers to which seven wholesale customers could resell its products between 2012 and 2019 and also prevented 10 exclusive distributors in some EU countries from replying to sale requests from customers in other EU countries between 2006 and 2020.

上周四，奥利奥制造商亿滋国际因阻碍欧盟国家之间的巧克力、饼干和咖啡产品的跨境贸易，被欧盟反垄断监管机构罚款3.375亿欧元。欧盟委员会表示，亿滋参与了违反竞争的交易，并滥用了其主导地位，违反了欧盟反垄断法。在亿滋承认了其不当行为后，罚款减少了15%。欧盟委员会表示，亿滋在2012年至2019年期间限制了7家批发客户转售其产品的区域或客户，并在2006年至2020年期间阻止了部分欧盟国家的10家独家分销商回复来自其他欧盟国家客户的销售请求。

Nike can put three stripes on some of its trouser designs in Germany, a German court ruled on Tuesday, in a second appeal hearing pitting Nike against Adidas. The Duesseldorf regional court had already prohibited Nike from using two or three stripes on five of its trouser designs after Adidas filed a trademark violation lawsuit in 2022. Nike can now use the stripes on four of the disputed models, while the ban for one remaining model remains in place, the court said. The three parallel stripes are a well-known Adidas trademark that it works relentlessly to protect in various courtrooms around the world. Nike claims Adidas' scope of protection is too narrow, saying that striped decoration doesn't necessarily relate to the brand it belongs to.

周二，德国一家法院在耐克对阿迪达斯提起的第二次上诉听证会上裁定，耐克可以在德国的一些裤型设计上使用“三条纹”标志。2022年，阿迪达斯对耐克提起商标侵犯诉讼。之后，杜塞尔多夫地区法院裁定禁止耐克在其五款裤型设计上使用“两条纹”和“三条纹”。本周，德国法院表示，耐克现在可以在其中四款裤型设计上使用这些条纹，但对剩余一款裤型的禁令仍然有效。“三条纹”设计是阿迪达斯的经典商标，因此其在全球各地对该商标发起了维权保护。但耐克表示，阿迪达斯的保护范围过于狭窄。耐克称，条纹装饰并不一定与阿迪达斯所属的品牌有关。

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A California federal judge last Friday dismissed a proposed class-action lawsuit that accused OpenAI and Microsoft of using stolen personal data to train ChatGPT and other generative artificial intelligence systems. US District Judge Vince Chhabria said in the ruling that the 204-page complaint was "not only excessive in length" but "contains swaths of unnecessary and distracting allegations making it nearly impossible to determine the adequacy of the plaintiffs' legal claims." The judge said the plaintiffs could file an amended complaint. The case was brought last year, accusing OpenAI and Microsoft of misusing personal data from social media platforms and other sites to teach AI how to respond to human prompts. The companies denied the claims.

上周五，加利福尼亚州一名联邦法官驳回了一起拟议的集体诉讼，该诉讼指控OpenAI和微软盗用个人数据以训练ChatGPT及其他生成式人工智能系统。美国联邦地区法官Vince Chhabria在裁决中表示，这起集体诉讼长达204页的诉状“不仅篇幅过长”，而且“包含了大量非必要和分散的指控，几乎不可能判断原告的法律诉求是否充分”。该法官表示，原告可以重新提交一份修改的诉状。该案于去年提起，指控OpenAI及微软滥用来自社交媒体平台和其他网站的个人数据，以训练人工智能对提示做出回应。OpenAI及微软否认了这些指控。

Financial payment companies Visa and Mastercard have agreed to pay $197 million to resolve a class action by millions of consumers accusing them of keeping cash access fees artificially high, according to a proposed accord revealed on Wednesday. The settlement reportedly involves consumers who withdrew cash from bank-operated ATMs since 2007. Visa will pay $104.6 million in the accord, and Mastercard will pay $92.8 million, the settlement papers showed. The proposed deal is subject to court approval. Two other related class actions — one from consumers who used non-bank ATMs and a third from businesses that own independent ATMs — are pending. The plaintiffs in the three cases said Visa and Mastercard's ATM network rules caused them to pay artificially higher amounts for access fees. Collectively, they were seeking damages of more than $9 billion.

据周三公布的一项拟议协议显示，金融支付公司Visa和万事达卡已同意支付1.97亿美元，以解决数百万消费者提起的集体诉讼，该诉讼指控两家公司人为地保持过高的现金提取费用。据悉，该和解协议涉及自2007年以来从银行运营的ATM取款的消费者。和解文件显示，Visa将根据协议支付1.046亿美元，万事达卡将支付9,280万美元。拟议的和解协议须经法院批准。报道称，还有另外两起集体诉讼与该诉讼相关，但目前两起诉讼仍悬而未决。原告在三起案件中表示，Visa和万事达卡的ATM网络规则人为地导致他们支付了更高的现金提取费用。原告共要求获得超过90亿美元的损害赔偿。

A group of Louisiana-based musicians have filed a lawsuit against Beyoncé over her 2022 hit “Break My Soul”. The lead single from the star’s 2022 album Renaissance samples the 2014 song “Explode” by New Orleans artist Big Freedia. According to a document filed in Louisiana federal court last Wednesday, the plaintiffs claim that “Explode” copies the lyrics and composition of their 2002 song “Release a Wiggle” without authorization. Along with Beyoncé and Big Freedia, Jay-Z, Sony Music and other agencies have been named as defendants in the suit. The filing further alleges that while Beyoncé, Big Freedia and others have financially benefitted from the song, the plaintiffs have not received the same rewards.

路易斯安那州的一些音乐家对Beyoncé 提起诉讼，指控其在2022年发行的热门歌曲《Break My Soul》涉嫌侵犯版权。《Break My Soul》是Beyoncé 在2022年发行的专辑《Renaissance》中的主打单曲，该曲节录自新奥尔良艺人Big Freedia在2014年发布的歌曲《Explode》。根据上周三提交给路易斯安那州联邦法院的一份文件，原告声称《Explode》在未经授权的情况下复制了他们2002年创造的歌曲《Release a Wiggle》的歌词和曲调。除了碧昂丝和Big Freedia，Jay-Z、索尼音乐和其他机构也被列为被告。诉讼还指控称，虽然Beyoncé、Big Freedia等人从这首歌中获得了经济利益，但原告并未获得同样的回报。