04.09.2007
China Trade Mark Office Sued By Danone Joint Venture
The Wahaha Food Co., a joint venture formed by the French dairy maker and the Chinese Hangzhou Wahaha Group sued the China Trade Mark Office (CTMO) argueing that the CTMO acted unlawfully in denying the transfer of the trademarks to the joint venture.
The Wahaha Group applied for registration of the trademark assignment in April 1996 and September 1997, with over 200 registered trademarks being assigned to Wahaha Food Co. However, registration of the transfer was rejected by the CTMO stating that the trademarks, being well-known trademarks of a state-owned enterprise, the trademark belonged to the state and Wahaha Group did not have the right to transfer the trademarks to a private company.
Before this claim was filed, Danone had already filed an arbitration action against Wahaha Group in July, accusing the Chinese firm of failing to transfer the Wahaha trademarks to Wahaha Food Co. Wahaha claimed that it was legally impossible to fulfill the contractual obligation, based on the reply from the trademark office which refused to consent to the transfer.
Keywords for this post:
China Trade Mark Office, Chinesisches Markenamt
