Swarovski is a crystal glass crafts brand founded by Daniel Swarovski in 1895. When mentioning this famous crafts brand, the image of the elegant and beautiful swan will instantly come to the mind of consumers.
Swarovski started the journey in mainland China in 1991, and has set up two companies: Swarovski (Guangzhou) Trading Co., Ltd. and Swarovski (Shanghai) Trading Co., Ltd. The long-established international jewelry brand has also attracted countless Chinese consumers. China is still its largest consumer market. Among them, there is no lack of men who want to take advantage of Swarovski’s resounding reputation to develop their own business, and Yang Yiguo is one of them.
On October 9, 2003, Yang Yiguo (杨奕国) applied for the registration of the trademark in China of “施華洛” (shī huá luò) and its pictures. Three years later, the trademark was approved and was designated for services of “Wedding Photography, Wedding Video, Photography”. After the approval of the trademark, Yang Yiguo set up Beijing Sufei Shihualuo Wedding Photography Co., Ltd. (北京苏菲施华洛婚纱摄影有限公司). The company not only copied part of Swarovski’s official Chinese brand name (“施华洛世奇”) by using its transliteration in traditional Chinese (“施華洛”), but also plagiarized Swarovski’s iconic swan logo, sparking further controversy.
Similar brand names and nearly identical swan logos create an intentional association that makes it easy for consumers to link the two brands. Although the jewelry industry and the wedding photography industry do not offer similar products and services, Yang Yiguo and his company are clearly leveraging the reputation of an internationally recognized trademark for financial gain. In addition, there is a natural connection between goods such as wedding dress (which usually wedding photography companies will offer) and decorative items such as crystal glass. Crystal jewelry from brands such as Swarovski is often incorporated into wedding attire. For example, Victoria Swarovski of the Swarovski family was married in 2017 in a wedding gown encrusted with 500,000 cores of Swarovski crystals.
On April 27, 2018, Swarovski applied to the China Trademark Office to invalidate a similar trademark. The trademark was originally registered by Yang Yiguo and then transferred to Beijing Yazifei Culture Development Co., Ltd. (北京雅姿妃文化发展有限公司). Swarovski’s action was successful, leading to the invalidation of the similar trademark of Yang Yiguo.
We recently looked into the latest information about Shihualuo Wedding Photography. Back in 2018, there were rumors about a financial crisis at Yang Yiguo’s Shihualuo company. Reports suggested that Yang Yiguo, the executive director, had gone missing, leaving unpaid wages for employees and unfulfilled orders for customers. News also indicated that over 400 young people were affected, with the total losses amounting to millions of yuan.
This wedding photography company, established in 2006, was once a well-known name in Beijing’s wedding scene, with branches across various districts in Beijing and Tianjin. However, in 2018, their trademark previously held was declared invalid. trademark serves as a company’s business card, and losing one that had been used for years dealt a significant blow to the business. Unfortunately, this was just one of many crises the company faced, leaving the future of Yang Yiguo and his enterprise uncertain.
