Time-honored brands

Special legislation is to be formulated to protect the intellectual property rights of Beijing's time-honored brands, CCTV reported. In response to a proposal submitted by a member of Beijing Municipal Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, the Beijing Municipal Commission of Commerce (BMCC) recently said that the capital city will seek to protect and advance the development of time-honored brand enterprises through local regulations.

Taking advantage of the intellectual capability of colleges and universities, Beijing will build a research center by the end of this year for time-honored brands as well as a "Time-honored Intangible Cultural Heritage Legacy Studio" that offers a place to transfer skills.

In the second half of this year, the BMCC will organize company executives from more than 20 time-honored brands to visit Taiwan and Hong Kong for exchanges and business discussions to help them learn brand operations, marketing designs and creative ideas from Taiwan and Hong Kong's enterprises to help realize their development abroad.

Swarovski wins suit

The Beijing High People's Court recently rendered its final decision on Swarovski's allegation that Beijing Swarov Wedding Photo infringed on its trademarks and was involved in unfair competition, rejecting Beijing Swarov's appeal and upholding the ruling of Beijing No 2 Intermediate People's Court against the company.

In 2007, Swarovski discovered that without its consent, Beijing Swarov used its registered trademarks and words similar to its registered trademarks on Swarov's trade names, company website, domain name and advertisements. Swarovski then brought the case to the court on the grounds of trademark infringement and unfair competition.

The Beijing No 2 Intermediate People's Court ruled last September that Swarov's use of names similar to Swarovski's trademarks in Chinese could mislead and confuse consumers. Though the two companies engage in different businesses, Swarov's acts have injured the rights and interests of Swarovski, the court said.

(China Daily 06/22/2009 page9)