I underestimated it! After refueling, I realized it was "Zhongyuan Petrochemical," and the local response was...

Recently, a netizen from Hebei posted that “Oops, I was fooled—this looks way too much like Sinopec!” When refueling, they were also puzzled about why the fuel price was so cheap. The staff member said they weren’t China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (Sinopec), but Zhongyuan Petrochemical.

In the comments section, the netizen replied that after refueling, they only then discovered that the gas station was on Shiqing Road in Shijiazhuang City.

The picture posted by the netizen shows that “Zhongyuan Petrochemical” has a red background with white characters. The letters are “SNOPEC,” and Sinopec—also with a red background and white characters—differs by just one letter. The only difference in the English letters is that Sinopec is missing an “i.” If you don’t look closely, it’s easy to confuse the two. Personnel involved at the gas station said they have been operating the station under this name for more than 10 years, and they’ve always used this name. They also said relevant departments had previously come to ask about the name, but he had a business license, and the name had been approved through the proper process. When the reporter asked about the original idea behind the naming, the person replied, “That’s not something you need to worry about.”

According to a search on Tianyancha, the gas station is the Shijiazhuang Luquan District Zhongyuan Petrochemical Baizhigan Fuel Station, which previously used the name Luquan City Zhongyuan Petrochemical Gas Station.

Source: Tianyancha

A staff member from the Market Supervision Administration of Luquan District told the reporter that it’s hard to determine whether infringement occurred based only on the station name; whether it infringes must be comprehensively judged based on the renovation and other factors. They said they would send people to investigate on-site and then respond.

After checking on a map, a reporter from Jimu News found that in China, there are also some “Zhongyuan Petrochemical” gas stations in places such as Henan, Anhui, and Hunan.

According to a July 2011 news report from the Shijiazhuang News website, law enforcement personnel from the Shijiazhuang Xinle City Administration for Industry and Commerce discovered that a local gas station used signage with the “Zhongyuan Petrochemical” characters, which was similar to “Sinopec” and its logo registered by China National Petroleum & Chemical Corporation. After investigation, the name of the gas station registered with the local industry and commerce authorities was “Xinle City Beifang Gas Station.” The Xinle City Administration for Industry and Commerce found that the party concerned had constituted an act of infringing the exclusive rights to a registered trademark, and issued an administrative decision ordering them to stop illegal conduct and imposed a fine of 16,000 yuan on the party concerned.

Also, according to a February 2015 report from Red Net, the Hunan Taojiang Administration for Industry and Commerce investigated and handled eight “borrowed-brand” gas stations, including “Zhongyuan Petrochemical” and “Zhongqu Petrochemical.” Under Article 57 of the Trademark Law, using on the same kind of goods a trademark that is similar to the registered trademark without permission from the trademark registrant constitutes infringement of the exclusive rights to a registered trademark. The county industry and commerce bureau will take serious action against these gas stations that have committed infringement.

The reporter noted that previously, three major central state-owned enterprises—Sinopec, PetroChina, and CNOOC—successively released anti-counterfeiting announcements stating that they had encountered “imposters (counterfeit brands)” and urged society to remain vigilant and guard against risks.

Source: Combined from Qilu Evening News and Jimu News

责任编辑：王维娜

校对：秦浩

主编：武熙智

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