-Lawyer reminder: such gimmicks are likely to cause disputes. Jinhua Home Inn Express (Shengli Street Store), No. 173 Shengli Street, Wucheng District, Jinhua City, ¥129, Booking available. Jinhua Home Inn Express (Bayi South Street Store), No. 458 Bayi South Street, Wucheng District, Jinhua City, ¥159, Booking available.
-Netizens exclaimed: It's almost a knockoff street! Zibo Home Inn Express (Communist Youth League Road Store), No. 95 West Communist Youth League Road, Zhangdian District, Zibo City, ¥161, Booking available. Zibo Home Inn Express (West Sixth Road Store), No. 22 North West Sixth Road, Zhangdian District, Zibo City, ¥151, Booking available.
"Wow, it's really interesting!" Mr. Jiang took pictures of these knockoff brands with his mobile phone and posted them online, immediately attracting strong attention from netizens. Everyone praised this series of billboards as "too talented", "Nanjing people are becoming more creative", and "it's almost a knockoff street". Some meticulous netizens even pulled out the original logos of some brands and compared them with the knockoff versions.
Weifang Home Inn Express (Peace Road Store), No. 819 Peace Road, Building 1, Weicheng District, Weifang City, ¥151, Booking available. Weifang Home Inn Express (Dongfeng East Street Store), No. 381 Dongfeng East Street, Kuiwen District, Weifang City, ¥161, Booking available.
In response to the creators of these signs, some netizens pointed out that "it's probably a merchant's tactic to attract attention; gaining attention online means they've achieved their purpose." However, others felt that regardless of whether it was a gimmick or not, this kind of "piggybacking on famous brands" promotional method was not advisable.
"This belongs to a variant trademark," said lawyer Wang Lining from Nanjing Regan Law Firm. He stated that merchants use variant forms, letter order reversal, and other methods which could possibly mislead consumers on one hand, and infringe upon the original trademark registrant on the other. But given that these shops have not actually opened for business or sold any goods, they do not need to bear legal responsibility. Nevertheless, he also reminded merchants to avoid using trademarks that could easily cause consumer confusion during promotions, in order to prevent litigation disputes.
Weihai Home Inn Express (Weihaiwei Store), No. 38 Shichang Avenue, Huancui District, Weihai City, ¥151, Booking available. Weihai Home Inn Express (Seaside Road Store), No. 19 Zhonghai Bin Road, Huancui District, Weihai City, ¥161, Booking available.
Mr. Jiang, a citizen of Nanjing, was "thunderstruck" by the ground floor shops of a building on the south side of the road when he passed through Wengan Street on his way to work. In his words, he "almost fell headfirst into the flower bed."
A commercial street filled with "knockoff" signs appeared on the streets of Nanjing. Several shop signs on the street were all "knockoff versions" of well-known brand logos. Netizens called it the most shocking "knockoff street" ever.
The reporter then contacted Lin Director, the relevant person in charge of these shops. He explained, "This is actually just a promotional method we use to sell the shops." He added that these shops are currently in the recruitment stage, and they hung some billboards to attract attention but haven't actually opened any stores yet. At the same time, he emphasized that to avoid misunderstanding, these signs were removed by yesterday evening.
-Street oddity: shops full of "knockoff" signs
It turns out that at first glance, these shop signs look like big brands, but upon closer inspection, something's off—they're all knockoffs! Truly shocking! From east to west, the first one is the world-famous sports brand Li-Ning, "No! This one is Li-Ming LI-MING." The second one is the favorite of the hipsters, Starbucks STARBUCKS, "Wrong again, this one is BUCKSSTAR." Other big brands were similarly treated, Pizza Hut became "Pizza Paste", Haagen-Dazs became "Haagen-Persia", including Watson's, Seven-Eleven, etc., all got parodied. Most impressively, McDonald's classic M-shaped logo had an extra curve added, making it "three doors." The reporter noticed that none of these shops with signs had officially opened yet.