WeWork起訴優客工場（UrWork）商標侵權

WeWork, the American shared-office provider that is one of the world’s most valuable start-ups, is suing UrWork for trademark infringement in the US, where the Chinese rival is set to launch later this month.

世界上估值最高的初創公司之一、美國共享辦公空間提供商WeWork在美國起訴優客工場(UrWork)侵犯商標，後者是一家中國競爭對手，定於本月晚些時候在美國推出服務。

WeWork, which was valued at about $20bn in July after its latest funding round, is seeking to block UrWork from using or registering its company name as a trademark in the US, arguing the name is “deceptively similar” to WeWork’s and will confuse clients into believing the two are affiliated.

7月進行最新一輪籌資後估值達到大約200億美元的WeWork，正在尋求阻止優客工場在美國使用其公司名稱，或註冊該名稱作爲商標，稱該名稱與WeWork“相像得具有欺騙性”，會導致客戶困惑，以爲兩家公司是關聯的。

“We will use all legal options available to us to defend our company name so as to avoid confusion,” said a WeWork spokesperson.

“我們將窮盡所有可用的法律手段來捍衛我們的公司名稱，以避免混淆，”WeWork的一名發言人表示。

“There is no question that UrWork’s services imitate WeWork’s,” the company said in a civil lawsuit filed in New York on Tuesday against UrWork and its American partner Serendipity Labs.

“毫無疑問，優客工場的服務模仿了WeWork，”該公司週二在紐約提交的針對優客工場及其美國合作伙伴Serendipity Labs的民事起訴書中表示。

In response to the lawsuit, UrWork said: ”Central to the trade mark is the ‘Ur’, while “Work” is a common English word, ubiquitously seen in many commercial contexts.”

針對這起訴訟，優客工場表示：“這個商標的中心是‘Ur’，而‘Work’是一個常見的英文單詞，被用於很多商業語境。”

UrWork, which claims a valuation of $1.2bn, has plans to expand in the US and Europe. It is part of a trend by China’s start-ups to push abroad, encouraged by a government-backed initiative to find fresh markets.

號稱估值達到12億美元的優客工場，計劃在美國和歐洲擴張。受到一項政府支持的尋找新市場倡議的鼓勵，中國初創企業興起了向海外進軍的趨勢。

The legal action in federal court New York escalates the conflict between the two companies, after WeWork filed a regulatory complaint in London in July also alleging trademark infringement.

在紐約聯邦法院提起的法律訴訟，使兩家公司之間的衝突升級，WeWork曾於7月在倫敦提出監管投訴，也聲稱受到商標侵權。

WeWork’s lawsuit also raises the question of to what extent Chinese start-ups, particularly tech firms protected at home from foreign competition, are more than copycats.

WeWork的訴訟也帶出了一個問題：中國的初創企業，特別是在國內受到保護、不面對外國公司競爭的的科技企業，在多大程度上超越了模仿者的角色？

“A decade ago, Chinese internet companies were copycats for a lot of western companies,” said Zhang Yi, head of research firm iMedia. “But recently, Chinese tech firms have changed their role from learner to innovator. Especially during the mobile age, China is leading western companies.”

“10年前，中國互聯網企業對許多西方公司來說是模仿者，”研究公司艾媒諮詢(iiMedia)首席執行官張毅表示。“但是近年中國高科技公司已經把自己的角色從學習者轉變爲創新者。尤其是在移動時代，中國在引領西方公司。”

UrWork founder Mao Daqing describes WeWork’s co-founder and chief executive officer Adam Neumann as a long-time friend, and has often praised WeWork as an inspiration. WeWork, on the other hand, calls UrWork’s business model “derivative”.

優客工場創始人毛大慶形容WeWork聯合創始人和首席執行官亞當?諾依曼(Adam Neumann)是多年的朋友，並經常稱讚WeWork是自己的靈感來源。另一方面，WeWork稱優客工場的業務模式是“模仿的”。

The Chinese company will open its first US office in Los Angeles later this month. It plans in January to launch a New York office in partnership with Serendipity Labs at One Chase Manhattan Plaza in the heart of New York’s financial district, near WeWork’s founding offices.

優客工場將於本月晚些時候在洛杉磯開設首個美國辦公空間。這家中國企業還計劃明年1月與Serendipity Labs聯手開設一個紐約辦公空間，地點在紐約金融區中心的One Chase Manhattan Plaza，距離WeWork的創始辦公空間較近。

Mr Mao says he does not regard UrWork as a direct rival to WeWork in the US, because UrWork’s target audience is Chinese start-ups moving abroad and foreign start-ups wanting to enter China.

毛大慶表示，他不認爲優客工場在美國與WeWork構成直接競爭，因爲優客工場的目標客戶是進軍海外的中國初創企業，以及希望進入中國的外國初創企業。

Mr Mao also has noted that there are “hundreds” of start-ups in China alone with a two-letter prefix attached to the word “work”.

毛大慶還指出，僅在中國就有“數百家”初創企業的名稱是在work前加上兩個字母的前綴。

WeWork launched in China in July and has nine offices in the country.

WeWork 7月在中國啓動業務，目前已開設9個辦公空間。