The State guesthouse under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs sued Philips (China) Investment Co Ltd for using its name in its advertisements and is seeking compensation.
The Diaoyutai State Guesthouse has required the people's court in Beijing's Haidian district to ask the company to stop using Diaoyutai's name in its publicity materials, apologize and pay 100,000 yuan ($16,104) in compensation, a website of the Beijing Commission on Politics and Legal Affairs reported on Tuesday.
An air purifier made by the company used the guesthouse's name in its ads, saying that the product is so good that it's even used in the State guesthouse to purify the air for international leaders.
Some of the company's online advertisement show pictures taken in the guesthouse claiming that the product is the "choice of the state guesthouse."
Guesthouse officials said that they have never purchased or used the air purifier and had no idea how the photos were taken, according to the report.
Lawyers of the guesthouse have sent the company demand letters seeking an explanation but were ignored, according to the report.
"The company is investigating the incident," an employee of the company's publicity department told the Global Times.
"Proving infringement is key to this case. The company did violate the rights and interests of the statehouse according to the advertisements' pictures and text," Zhou Hao, a lawyer from the Beijing-based Jia An Law Office, told the Global Times.
"The amount of compensation depends on how much the company had earned by using the name of the State guesthouse," said Zhou.
Built in 1959, the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse has hosted 1,287 foreign heads of state and government and is an important venue for Chinese leaders to conduct State and diplomatic activities.
