After refueling, I realized it was "Zhongyuan Petrochemical"! The involved gas station has been placed under investigation.

In the past two days, a “Zhongyuan Petrochemical” gas station in Luquan District, Shijiazhuang, Hebei has drawn public attention. The “Yuan” in this “Zhongyuan Petrochemical” is the “Yuan” in “garden,” and it looks very similar to the character “Guo.” Apart from the “Yuan” character, the entire logo matches the font of Sinopec’s (“China Petrochemical”) trademark. Only this “Yuan” character in the park looks like a special rendition, making it look even more like “Guo.” Not only the characters—this gas station’s overall exterior decoration, the red background with white lettering design, and even the abbreviations of the English letters are all highly similar to “China Petrochemical.”

In response, the gas station involved said their fuel source is legitimate, and both the business registration name and business credentials have been approved through lawful procedures. However, if a business has legitimate administrative approval paperwork, does that mean it can “get away with it” on its signage? And how would this highly imitative “piggybacking on a well-known brand” conduct be defined under the law?

The gas station at the center of the controversy is located in Luquan District, Shijiazhuang. In response to netizens questioning whether it is a “counterfeit brand gas station,” the person in charge, Mr. Yang, told China News Service that the gas station has a legitimate business license, and it was registered with the business registration system in 2010. Its full name is “Zhongyuan Petrochemical Baizhugan Gas Station, Luquan District, Shijiazhuang City.”

Gas station manager Mr. Yang: Our paperwork, our business license—those few characters—are all under normal approval. When we buy fuel, we have to use formal value-added tax invoices.

Since it has legitimate approval paperwork, why are its red-background white-letter signboard and both its Chinese and English identifiers highly similar to China Petrochemical? Besides the Chinese font “Yuan” character looking like “Guo,” its English logo “SNOPEC” differs from Sinopec’s “SINOPEC” by only one English letter “I.” In this regard, Mr. Yang argued that the name and the logo are not intentionally imitating others.

Gas station manager Mr. Yang: The English letters are combined from the kids’ names. You pick one here and pick one there—choose a few letters and then stick them on. There’s nothing intentional about it.

According to information, relevant departments in Luquan District promptly went to the site to carry out verification. After verification, it was found that the gas station had unlawfully used a doorhead façade decoration and layout similar to “China Petrochemical.” It has been ordered to remove the doorhead decoration and the “Zhongyuan Petrochemical” signage. Mr. Yang said that notifications have already been received to start rectification and the removal of the relevant characters.

Regarding the conduct of the gas station in the case, which is suspected of unlawfully using an identifier similar to that used by others and having a certain impact, the Luquan District Administration for Market Regulation has filed a case for investigation. It will handle the matter in accordance with law and regulations based on the investigation results.

Besides this “Zhongyuan Petrochemical” gas station in Luquan District, Shijiazhuang, the “piggybacking on well-known brands” phenomenon is rampant in the gas station industry and has been hard to eradicate. In many places, there have been such examples as “Zhongyuan Petrochemical,” “Shenguó Petrochemical,” and “Zhongdun Petrochemical.”

Sinopec and PetroChina have repeatedly issued reminders. This year, on “3·15,” Sinopec’s official video account also specifically released an anti-counterfeiting video to remind people:

Trick 1: Playing word games with the station name. This is the most commonly used method by counterfeit gas stations. By changing one or two characters in the station name, it looks at a glance indistinguishable from a legitimate Sinopec gas station, thereby deceiving drivers into trusting them.

Trick 2: Highly imitating the exterior design of counterfeit gas stations. The shape, color, and content are very similar to those of legitimate Sinopec gas stations. Everyone should definitely look closely at the information on the brand columns before entering the station.

Trick 3: Imitating the fuel dispenser in a hidden way. Some counterfeit gas stations even imitate the fuel dispensers; at first glance, people may think it is the original logo of Sinopec, but in fact it is industrial petrochemicals.

Trick 4: Convenience store design similar to counterfeit gas stations. The convenience store name is “Kuai jie” (Quick), which differs by only one character from Sinopec’s “Yijie” convenience store at Sinopec gas stations. In addition, the color scheme, English and the signage are basically indistinguishable.

So, can a business “hitch a ride” on commercial identifiers if it has a legitimate business license and administrative approval paperwork? Zhao Zhanling, a specially invited researcher from the Intellectual Property Center of China University of Political Science and Law, clearly pointed out that administrative approval qualifications and trademark infringement are two entirely different legal concepts. Such conduct may be considered a violation of the relevant provisions in the Anti-Unfair Competition Law: “Operators shall not engage in confusing practices that cause people to mistakenly believe it is another party’s goods or that there is a specific connection with another party.”

Zhao Zhanling emphasized that, for such suspected infringement conduct, the law provides clear routes for rights protection and regulation. Market supervision and administration departments can investigate and handle it, or the infringed party can sue in court.

Zhao Zhanling also explained that the right holder can protect rights in two ways: one is from a civil perspective—suing the other party in court for trademark infringement and seeking civil damages; the other is to report to the market supervision and administration department. If the investigation is confirmed to be true and it is determined that trademark infringement is constituted, the market supervision and administration department should order the infringer to stop the illegal conduct and impose a fine.

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