25.09.2008
Japanese Traditional Brand Name Registered In China
The registration of Japanese traditional brand names as Chinese trademarks remains a problem for Japanese companies. The Aomori case was the first widely-reported incident, but there are numerous other examples, such as Matsusaka beef and Naruto Kintoki sweet potatoes.
Another newsworthy case affects the traditional ironware company “Nanbu Tekki” of Iwate prefecture. Nanbu tekki is written in the following Chinese characters 南部鉄器 (Southern Ironware).
In September 2007, a Hong Kong based company has applied for registration of this name in China, using an old chinese character for iron (鐵). Producers of Nanbu Tekki are planning legal steps against the Chinese trademark, which seems to be registered by now.
However, considering the rather generic nature of the trademark, one should not exclude the possibility that the similarity of trademark names might rather be a coincidence than a case of taking unfair advantage of the repute of “Nanbu Tekki”.
Keywords for this post:
China, Japan, Marken, trademarks
