Foscarini, the successful Venetian lighting company, founded in 1981 which develops and produces inspirational, decorative lamps, has finally achieved a favourable judgment in the Beijing Intellectual Property (IP) Court enabling it to register its trademarks over its illuminating products. This is a significant victory for Foscarini, as it will allow the trademark FOSCARINI to be registered in China over goods in its core business, which include an extensive range of lighting.

Foscarini, which uses two words to encapsulate its company ethos, Create Light, has not only achieved awards for its innovation and design, but has also been recognised for the quality of its production process. It has received certification for the significant steps that it took to reduce any environmental impact of its work and awards include the Compasso d'Oro Award for 'decisive technological innovation' in 2001 and the Compasso d'Oro ADI Award for "Inventario' in 2014.

The favourable decision made by the Beijing IP Court in July 2023 follows litigation by Foscarini's when it initially decided to register its trademark in China. An initial application was made to the CNIPA, who refused to register the company's Latin trademark FOSCARINI, in 2013, due to the presence of a prior infringing trademark which was blocking the registration of the genuine FOSCARINI trademark. The company then instructed Ferrante IP in July 2021 who filed a new application for registration on their behalf, securing a successful outcome, by filing concurrent invalidation and cancellation actions.

Ferrante IP appealed to the Beijing IP Court in June 2022, providing a strong argument that the court should revoke the decision of the CNIPA and order it to issue a new decision to approve the registration of the trademark FOSCARINI on the designated goods. The Court accepted the arguments put on behalf of Foscarini, which was that Ferrante had successfully cancelled or invalidated the prior infringing trademarks and that public announcements to that effect had been published in the Trademark Gazette. On that basis, the IP Court agreed that the Foscarini trademark would no longer be blocked and the CNIPA was ordered to issue a new decision in favour of the company.

Foscarini has achieved a positive outcome which now permits them to register their trademark, facilitating the operation and expansion of the business in China, as well as highlighting the strong image and good reputation already enjoyed by the Italian lighting entrepreneurs. More importantly, by expanding its IP protection, Foscarini is able to deter potential infringers who act in bad faith against them and to benefit from hard work and creative skill, demonstrating the value of not only obtaining IP protection but instructing expert lawyers to maximise and enforce those rights.

The lighting industry will no doubt celebrate this decision as it reflects the success of the company who combine quality with environmental responsibility, the high values held by Foscarini who now enjoy a bright future in China.