Companies need to protect TCM Time honored brands overseas

Companies need modern intellectual property rights systems and foresight to protect China's traditional brands overseas, officials and industry insiders said at a forum last month in Beijing.

According to statistics from the National Copyright Administration, Chinese companies suffer combined losses of more than 1 billion yuan ($152.3 million) annually when others register their trademarks overseas.

"Time-honored brands often mean a good reputation and large market share, and that is why they become the targets of infringers in overseas markets," said Ma Yide, deputy director of the China Intellectual Property Law Association, at the forum on international protection of time-honored brands on May 29, part of the China Beijing International Fair for Trade in Services.

"Bad-faith trademark registration is one of the most apparent obstacles for China's time-honored brands when they first tap into overseas markets," Ma said, adding that the infringements show weak awareness of IP protection by many companies and their ineptitude in international IP deployment.

"Chinese time-honored brands, as anyone can see, boast great historical, social and business value," said Wang Ye, a senior adviser at the World Intellectual Property Organization.

"If we do not protect our rights overseas, others will make use of our failings against us," Wang said.

He suggested that companies create IP and trademark strategies and analyze their products and markets.

He also said companies need forward-thinking ideas to register their trademarks in markets before launching their products.

"The most economical and convenient way is the Madrid System for the International Registration of Marks, as nearly all of China's trade partners are members in the system."

The Madrid System allows companies to file one application, in one language, and pay one set of fees to protect their trademarks in nearly 100 economies.

Chen Hongbing, head of the World Intellectual Property Organization's China office, said that just one trademark for one product is not enough for companies. Instead, they should think about future use.

He gave an example of Quanjude, an iconic Chinese restaurant chain for Peking roast duck. "Roast duck is just one product, but there could be services, handicraft, souvenirs, cultural creative products and many other potential fields for the company to develop," he said.

Chen said the protection of time-honored brands could also involve patents, such as technical knowledge, materials and formulas that have been never publicized.

Company leads in international trademarks

Beijing-based Tongrentang, founded in 1669, is one of China's top producers of traditional Chinese medicines. Like many other Chinese time-honored brands, it has faced bad-faith trademark registration in Japan, the United States and Europe since the 1980s.

The company has taken increasingly active measures in international trademark protection, said Zhao Xianhong, head of Tongrentang's department for legal affairs.

In 1989, Tongrentang became China's first international trademark to use the Madrid System. The company now has 115 outlets and joint ventures in 25 countries and regions overseas, with its products being sold in about 50 countries and regions.

Zhao said the company has applied for trademarks in more than 100 countries and regions through various mechanisms including the Madrid System and reviews its global trademark layout annually.

"Even in some markets that we have not yet entered, we apply for trademarks in advance," Zhao said.

Tongrentang won a Special Award for Effective Use of the Madrid System for the International Registration of Marks in 2015.

chinadaily.com.cn