It is a victory not just for New Balance, but also for many other foreign companies that have long complained that Beijing has not done enough to protect their brands. And while the size of the ruling — issued three days after President Donald Trump ordered an investigation into China’s alleged theft of intellectual property — was relatively small by international standards, it was nevertheless a substantial increase compared with previous penalties.

BEIJING — A Chinese court has ruled that three domestic shoemakers must pay New Balance $1.5 million in damages and legal costs for infringing the U.S. sportswear company’s signature slanting “N” logo, in what lawyers said was the largest trademark infringement award ever granted to a foreign business in China.


“I haven’t heard of a foreign company getting this level of damages,” said Douglas Clark, an intellectual property lawyer who has practiced in China and Hong Kong for the last 25 years.

In the decision, the Suzhou Intermediate People’s Court, near Shanghai, ruled that three defendants that made shoes under the brand New Boom “seized market share from New Balance” and “drastically damaged the business reputation of New Balance,” according to a copy of the decision, which was sent to The New York Times by the U.S. company.

The court said the three defendants behind New Boom — Zheng Chaozhong, Xin Ping Heng Sporting Goods Limited Co. and Bo Si Da Ke Trading Limited — had relied on the “malice of free-riding,” saying their actions led to “confusion by a large number of consumers.” The decision can still be appealed.

The court ruling reflects the Chinese government’s determination to confront the problem of piracy, which has long plagued many companies in a country where fake shoes, bags — and even meat — are widely available.

But many counterfeiters have moved beyond just making knockoffs to copying everything about a brand, short of the entire name. In New Balance’s case, the U.S. company faces challenges from New Boom, New Barlun, and New Bunren, all of which are protected under China’s trademark law.


New Balance, though, has sought to take all of them on. Since it started selling shoes in China in 1995, it has fought against dozens of counterfeit manufacturers, battled a rogue supplier who exported its shoes at a deep discount and struggled over the use of its Chinese name in the courts.