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

Over the past two days, a “Zhongyuan Petrochemical” gas station in Luquan District, Shijiazhuang, Hebei Province has drawn public attention. The “Yuan” in this “Zhongyuan Petrochemical”—“Yuan” as in “garden”—looks very similar to the “Guo” character. Besides the “Yuan” character, the entire logo uses the same typeface as the trademark of “Sinopec,” with the only exception that this gas station’s “Yuan” character uses a special writing style, making it look even more like the “Guo” character. Not only the characters—this gas station’s exterior appearance and decoration, its design of white text on a red background, and even the abbreviations of the letters in English are all highly similar to “Sinopec.”

In response, the gas station involved said that their fuel sources are legitimate, and that both the name under industrial and commercial registration and their business licenses and operating qualifications have been approved through lawful procedures. However, does having proper administrative approval procedures mean they can “ride the line” on the sign? How, under the law, should this highly imitative “free-riding on a well-known brand” behavior be defined?

The gas station at the center of the controversy is located in Luquan District, Shijiazhuang City. In response to netizens’ doubts that it is a “shanzhai gas station,” the person in charge surnamed Yang told China National Radio that the gas station has a legitimate business license, and it was registered with the industrial and commercial bureau as far back as 2010; its full name is “Shijiazhuang City Luquan District Zhongyuan Petrochemical Baichigan Gas Station.”

Gas station manager Yang: Our paperwork and business license are just those few characters; they were all obtained through legitimate approvals. When we buy fuel, we use formal VAT invoices.

If it has lawful approval procedures, why are its red-background-and-white-text signage and its Chinese and English identifiers so highly similar to Sinopec? Aside from the Chinese font “Yuan” that looks like “Guo,” its English logo “SNOPEC” differs from Sinopec’s “SINOPEC” by only one English letter “I.” In that regard, Yang claimed the station name and logo were not intended to imitate.

Gas station manager Yang: The English letters are arranged by combining the kids’ names—choosing one character here and another there, and then sticking on a handful of those letters. There’s nothing deliberate about it.

As far as is known, relevant departments in Luquan District went to the scene to carry out verification as soon as possible. After verification, it was found that the gas station had unilaterally used doorhead decorations and an entrance facade similar to “Sinopec.” They have ordered it to remove the “Zhongyuan Petrochemical” doorhead decorations. Yang said that they have already received notification to begin rectification and the removal of the relevant lettering.

Regarding the conduct by the gas station involved that is suspected of unilaterally using a logo similar to that of others, which may have a certain impact, the Luquan District Market Supervision Administration has filed a case for investigation. It will handle the matter in accordance with the law and relevant rules based on the investigation results.

Besides the “Zhongyuan Petrochemical” gas station in Luquan District, Shijiazhuang, “free-riding on brand names” has been difficult to fully stop in the gas station industry. In many places, there have been cases of “Zhongyuan Petrochemical,” “Shenguo Petrochemical,” “Zhongdun Petrochemical,” and other similar brand-naming incidents.

Sinopec and PetroChina have repeatedly issued reminders. In this year’s “3·15,” Sinopec’s official video account even specifically released an anti-counterfeiting video as a reminder:

Ploy One: Play with words in the station name. This is the most commonly used method by shanzhai gas stations: by changing one or two characters in the station name, at a glance it looks no different from an official Sinopec gas station, thereby deceiving motorists and gaining their trust.

Ploy Two: Highly imitate the exterior design of shanzhai gas stations. The shape, color, and content are very similar to those of the official Sinopec gas station. Everyone should be sure to carefully check the content on the brand signposts before entering the station.

Ploy Three: Imitate the fuel dispenser in a concealed way. Some shanzhai gas stations even imitate the fuel dispensers; at first glance it looks like the original Sinopec logo, but in reality it is industrial petrochemicals.

Ploy Four: Convenience store design similar to shanzhai gas stations. The convenience store name is “Express,” which differs from Sinopec’s convenience brand “Easy-Jet” by just one character. In addition, the English text in the color scheme and the identifiers are basically indistinguishable.

So, with a lawful business license and administrative approval procedures, can they “catch a ride” with commercial branding on signs? Zhao Zhanling, an associated researcher at the Intellectual Property Center of China University of Political Science and Law, clearly pointed out that administrative approval qualification and trademark infringement are two completely different legal concepts. Such behavior is suspected of violating relevant provisions of the Anti-Unfair Competition Law, specifically those concerning “an operator shall not engage in confusing acts that cause people to believe the goods are those of another party or that there is a specific relationship with another party.”

Zhao Zhanling emphasized that for such allegedly infringing conduct, the law provides clear paths for rights protection and supervision. It can be handled by market supervision and administration departments, or the infringed party can sue in court.

Zhao Zhanling explained that rights holders can protect their rights from two angles: one is to sue the other party in court from a civil perspective for trademark infringement, and request civil compensation; the other is to report to the market supervision and administration department. If the investigation is found to be true and it is confirmed that trademark infringement is constituted, the market supervision and administration department should order the infringer to stop the illegal conduct and impose a fine.

A massive amount of information and precise analysis—available on the Sina Finance APP