(Yicai Global) Sept. 23 -- A Chinese court has frozen CNY70 million (USD10.3 million) of internet-based healthcare firm Ping An Healthcare and Technology’s assets as a trademark dispute with a company of the same name escalates, the China Securities Journal reported today.

Ping An Healthcare, also known as Ping An Good Doctor, is being taken to court by Gooddoctor Pharmaceutical Group, which is accusing the unit of insurance behemoth Ping An Insurance of trademark infringement, according to the Sichuan province-based court.

The court has just granted Chengdu-based Gooddoctor Pharma a property preservation order, which is the compulsory freezing of assets to ensure the defendant has enough funds to pay compensation or penalty fees after the court’s ruling.

Gooddoctor Pharma registered its company name in 1998, long before Ping An Good Doctor came on the scene in 2015. The Gooddoctor brand, which mainly makes patented traditional Chinese medicines, was recognized by the country’s administration of industry and commerce as a well-known trademark in 2010. In 2018, the firm was worth CNY31.6 billion (USD4.7 billion), it said.

Goodoctor Pharma started legal action in 2018. Its case has been heard in Chengdu, Shenzhen and Beijing, but without either side coming out tops.

Parent firm Ping An Insurance is little perturbed and unlikely to change its healthcare arm’s name despite the Sichuan province court’s ruling against it, according to market rumors. The Shenzhen-based firm previously said on Sept. 11 that it will not remove the app from app stores and will apply to a higher court for retrial.

The news also had little effect on Ping An Good Doctor’s share price [HKG:1833] which closed up 0.90 percent to HKD111.60 (USD14.40) apiece today, giving it a market capitalization of HKD119 billion (USD15.4 billion).

The platform provides family doctors, electronic health records and health management services to consumers using artificial intelligence technology. It had 315 million registered users as of the end of last year, a gain of 50 million compared with the year before.

Editor: Kim Taylor