Trademark Board Decision Causes Stir

03 October 2012

Disgruntled with the Trademark Review and Adjudication Board’s (TRAB) decision to revoke his trademark registration of 可日, a Chinese national by the name of Huang has taken the TRAB and Coca-Cola to the Beijing No.1 Intermediate People’s Court, it was reported in Rouse’s China IP Express newsletter.

Huang filed for registration of 可日 (a Chinese name pronounced ‘Keri’) in Class 32, i.e. beer, non alcoholic beverages and juice, and registration was granted on March 21, 2004. On January 27, 2005, the Coca-Cola Company sought revocation of the registration. TRAB revoked the registration on the ground that 可日 was similar to 可口 (the Chinese mark of Coca-Cola), and would cause confusion among consumers.

Huang insists that 可日 is significantly different from 可口, and that the relevant public will not be confused by the two. Moreover, the pronunciation of the two is also different.

The decision is pending.

More Chinese Brands to go Global?

More Chinese firms’ brands will become top global brands in the next decade, Zhou Houjian, chair of China’s Hisense Group said in a keynote speech this month at the opening of the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. His remarks were reported by the Xinhua news agency.

Zhou said that leading Chinese companies are making “bold innovations” and are promoting "Made-in China" products in the world market. “There will be quite a number of Chinese-made products ranked as top global brand names in the next 10 years,” Zhou said. “More Chinese enterprises will become leaders in different industries and sectors.”

Zhou was the first Chinese entrepreneur to deliver a keynote speech in the 43 year history of the electronics show.

Law firms

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