Gotop to continue trademark lawsuit against Qualcomm   

上海高通诉美国高通商标侵权

美国高通最近在中国麻烦不断。发改委刚刚结束对美国高通的反垄断调查，中国本土的高通公司在北京召开媒体发布会，再谈全球最大手机芯片供应商美国QUALCOMM的中文商标“高通”涉嫌侵权。QUALCOMM公司表示，对此不做回应。[查看全文]

(ECNS) - Chinese semiconductor maker Gotop said it would continue to safeguard its trademarks in China after making no progress in a year-long suit against U.S. chip maker Qualcomm, National Business Daily reported Wednesday.

Gotop said it registered the trademark back in 1992 and claimed that Qualcomm had infringed its trademark rights in China since 1998 by illegally using the Chinese characters for Gaotong, which Gotop has as a registered trademark. In April 2014 it sued Qualcomm in a Shanghai court for 100 million yuan ($16 million) in compensation.

Gotop held a press conference in Beijing on Tuesday, announcing it will entrust consulting company Hejun Vanguard Group and law firm Duan & Duan as its agents to help press ahead with the suit.

As Qualcomm is based in the U.S., jurisdiction issues have made the case extremely complicated and time-consuming, said Chen Ruojian, a lawyer for Gotop and a partner with Duan & Duan. "It took seven to eight months to just submit the necessary materials."

Hejun Vanguard CEO Li Su said they are continuing to investigate and will also file suits against distributors and vendors of Qualcomm chips or terminals that use Qualcomm chips to help speed up the case.

Gotop claimed that Qualcomm's illegal use of the trademark over the past 16 years could have involved billions of dollars and caused the company great losses.

Qualcomm posted $24.9 billion in revenues and $6.9 billion in net profits in 2013, Chen said, citing its annual report. "Qualcomm's illegal sales revenues in China reached $12.45 billion, with $3.45 billion in illegal profits," Chen claimed.

Gotop will also file a report to China's State Administration for Industry and Commerce and ask the authority to impose a fine on Qualcomm, which could amount to hundreds of billions of dollars according to relevant regulations, Chen said.

But Sheng Linghai, a senior researcher with Gartner, shrugged off the move. As a small Chinese IT company, Gotop's chip R&D takes up only a small proportion of its business, and is far smaller than Qualcomm, Sheng said.

Gotop's concern is the trademark, and Qualcomm can avoid conflicts and defend itself with ease by using replacements such as "Qualcomm, Snapdragon," Sheng told the paper.