"Xisi steamed stuffed bun shop", who is the real Beijing flavor in memory

In the memory of old Beijing, the "Xisi steamed stuffed bun shop" once opened at the corner of Xisi intersection has warmed the growth of a generation. The standard configuration of "two liang steamed stuffed buns and a bowl of fried liver" has accompanied the childhood of many people. At that time, the "Xisi steamed stuffed bun shop" was famous in Beijing's time-honored flavor restaurants and won wide praise and reputation.

Due to multiple historical factors, the old time-honored restaurants have been closed for many years or moved away from their original sites.

Nowadays, "Xisi steamed stuffed bun shop" is operating again, and there are more and more shops called "Xisi steamed stuffed bun shop" in the streets and alleys, but which is the real "Beijing flavor in memory"?

The Beijing Intellectual Property Court concluded a case of unfair competition dispute involving the brand name right of "Xisi steamed stuffed bun shop". Let's take a look at the reopening of the "West Fourth steamed stuffed bun shop". Is it that the legendary delicacy has reappeared in the Jianghu?

The predecessor of Xisi steamed stuffed bun shop was eryouju convenience restaurant, which was renamed Xisi steamed stuffed bun shop in the 1960s. Its business location was changed from No. 18, Xisi South Street, Xicheng District, Beijing to No. 1, Xisi South Street, Xicheng District, Beijing. The name "Xisi steamed stuffed bun shop" has gone through many changes, such as "Xisi steamed stuffed bun shop, Xisi catering grass-roots store, Xicheng District, Beijing", "Xisi steamed stuffed bun shop, Beijing Huatian catering company", "Xisi steamed stuffed bun shop, Xicheng District, Beijing", "Xisi steamed stuffed bun shop, Beijing Huatian catering group company", etc. In July 2001, "Xisi baozi shop of Beijing Huatian catering group company" was cancelled due to system reform and closed down, and its creditor's rights and debts were in the charge of Huatian Group.

From 2002 to 2003, the Beijing Evening News published news that the Xisi steamed stuffed bun shop, located in the southwest corner of the intersection of funei street and Xisi street, has recently restored its original name - eryouju. In March 2015, Huatian Group decided to restore the "eryouju" brand and officially authorized its wholly-owned subsidiary Huatian eryouju to be responsible for the restoration, operation and development of the "eryouju" and "Xisi Baozipu" brands.

In 2019, Huatian eryouju found that several "Xisi steamed stuffed bun shops" had appeared in Beijing, and there were reports on the reopening of "Xisi steamed stuffed bun shops" on the Internet. One of them was the Xisi steamed stuffed bun shop operated by haiyuange company, the party involved in the case. The shop was located in Xisi North Street, Xicheng District, Beijing, with "Beijing flavor in memory" written on the door plaque. Huatian eryouju sued haiyuange company to the court for this act.

Beijing Xicheng District People's court ruled that haiyuange company stopped the unfair competition behavior of using the shop name of "Xisi steamed stuffed bun shop", changed the shop name, compensated Huatian eryouju for economic losses and reasonable expenses of 10000 yuan, and published a statement on the relevant platform on the unfair competition behavior involved in the case to eliminate the impact.

Haiyuange company disagreed and appealed to Beijing Intellectual Property Court.

The Beijing Intellectual Property Court held that

"Xisi steamed stuffed bun shop", as a shop sign, has been operating continuously. After long-term use and historical precipitation, it has formed a relatively rich brand value and carried a unique goodwill.

The relevant rights and interests arising from the name "Xisi Baozipu" belong to a kind of property rights and interests, which can be inherited by Huatian Group. Although Huatian Group has not continued to operate the brand physically for a long time, according to relevant media reports, "Xisi steamed stuffed bun shop" still has a certain influence and high popularity in recent years. The reputation accumulated by the time-honored brand is still related to its early operators in relevant public cognition. The brand still has the function of identifying the source of goods, and its historical goodwill Visibility and potential business value continue to exist.

Haiyuange company, Huatian eryouju and Huatian Group, as operators of the same industry in the same region, should have known the popularity of the time-honored "Xisi steamed stuffed bun shop" when haiyuange company reopened the shop name of "Xisi steamed stuffed bun shop", but it failed to fulfill its reasonable obligation to avoid, and still opened its main steamed stuffed bun shop with the same name near the original site of "Xisi steamed stuffed bun shop" in that year.

Haiyuange company has no historical origin with "Xisi steamed stuffed bun shop". It has marked "Beijing flavor in memory" on the shop sign. Subjectively, it is obviously to inherit the goodwill of the time-honored "Xisi steamed stuffed bun shop" and mislead the relevant public to confuse it with the time-honored "Xisi steamed stuffed bun shop". Objectively, the relevant reports and comments also further confirm that the relevant public mistakenly believe that the two have a certain relationship.

The behavior of haiyuange company involved in the case obviously had improper intention, damaged the legitimate commercial interests of Huatian eryouju, disturbed the business order of fair competition, violated the principle of good faith and constituted unfair competition.

The Beijing Intellectual Property Court finally rejected the appeal request of haiyuange company and upheld the judgment of first instance.