Case summary
Plaintiff Xuan Co., Ltd. is the copyright holder of the novel "The Age of Empires". Plaintiff Sheng Co., Ltd. developed the mobile game "The Age of Empires" (hereinafter referred to as "Game of Thrones") with authorization and entrusted Plaintiff Su Co., Ltd. with its operation and promotion. Defendant Qi Co., Ltd. used game titles such as "The Chronicles of The Age of Empires", "The Chronicles of The Age of Empires Mobile", "The Chronicles of The Age of Empires", and "The Dynasty of The Age of Empires" in one of its operated games, prominently featuring the term "The Age of Empires" across multiple platforms for download. This game bears no connection to the Game of Thrones. Furthermore, Qi Co., Ltd. utilized the iconic character "Wuzhu" from the original work as a game icon. The three plaintiffs have filed a lawsuit requesting the court to order Qi Co., Ltd. to cease infringement, eliminate negative publicity, and compensate for economic losses and reasonable expenses.
The court ruled that "Qing Yu Nian" (Celebration of the Years) is not a fixed phrase. Following the TV series broadcast and extensive promotion of the mobile game, the name gained significant recognition among the public. Shortly after Sheng Company and Shu Company launched their own "Game of Thrones" -themed games, Qi Company began promoting these titles on third-party platforms. However, instead of using the original games name, they employed similar titles to "Qing Yu Nian" and used visual elements identical to the "Five Bamboo" characters avatar—specifically featuring the characters blindfolded appearance. They also advertised "Qing Yu Ji" (Celebration of the Years) as a novel-adapted game across multiple platforms. This marketing strategy caused players to immediately associate the games name, graphics, and promotional claims with "Qing Yu Nian," misleading potential users. By capitalizing on this confusion to boost downloads, market share, and player acquisition, Qi Company achieved higher profits through unfair competition by leveraging the popularity of the original work. The court concluded that Qi Companys actions constituted false advertising due to its deliberate intent and fault in exploiting the "Qing Yu Nian" phenomenon for improper gains.
brief summary
In this case, Qiyu Company committed two acts of infringement during the promotion of its game. First, it used the "Five Bamboo" character from the popular novel *The Age of Empires*, constituting copyright infringement of a work of fine art. Second, promotional materials containing phrases "Qingyu Ji," "Jiuzhou Qingyu Ji," "Qingyu Huangchao," "Qingyu Nianji," and "same-named novel" misled players believing the game was connected to the original novel, thereby engaging in unfair competition through false advertising.
The copyright infringement aspect is actually quite common and relatively straightforward, so I wont elaborate further here. The false advertising mentioned also requires special attention during game operations and promotions, with its core characteristic being "telling lies" to mislead consumers. In this specific case, the promotional content claimed to be adapted from the namesake novel and used phrases "Qingyu" and "Nian" (a term from the TV series). However, the actual infringing games content shows no connection whatsoever to the novel "Qing Yu Nian".
In the fierce market competition, "free-riding", "clinging to popularity" and other behaviors are very common, can not be completely avoided. If you are not careful, once you accidentally "cross the line", it may constitute infringement.
