The Tianjin High Court of China issued a decision that a local motorcycle maker must pay Yamaha Motor Co., Ltd. 900,000 yuan (about 13,500,000 yen). This sum appears higher than that of any other sum awarded to date as compensation for a trademark infringement in the lawsuits which Japanese companies have filed against Chinese infringers.
Yamaha sued a medium-sized motorcycle manufacturer in Tianjin City, called Guangtian Jituan, including its four subsidiaries. These Chinese companies produced and distributed scooters and motorcycles that pirated the trademark "YAMAHA" and other trademarks that are all owned by Yamaha Motor Co. They had allegedly been annually producing 100,000 or more of such mis-branded scooters and motorcycles in 1998, 1999, and 2000.
