China plans to crack down on 'malicious' trademarks after Apple's iPad name dispute
Apple's legal battle to obtain the rights to the "iPad" name was one of a number of high profile cases that have prompted the Chinese government to crack down on what it calls "malicious" trademark registrations.
Apple had a long dispute with Proview, which had previously used the name "iPAD" for a product that is no longer sold. Nearly bankrupt, Proview managed to receive $60 million from Apple for the rights to the iPad name this year.
The Apple-Proview fight over the iPad name was one dispute highlighted by Reuters on Monday in a report that revealed the Chinese government plans to get serious about trademark issues. The problems are so common that foreign governments, including the U.S., have pushed China for years to get tougher on copyright laws.
State media in China announced on Monday that the government plans to crack down on "malicious" trademark registrations. The effort would come in the form of a new proposed amendment, which will offer protection to international brands and give copyright owners the ability to ban others from registering their trademarks or using similar ones.
Other recent high-profile trademark disputes in China involve basketball great Michael Jordan, who sued a Chinese sportswear company in February, as well as French luxury group Hermes International SCA.
Apple was also sued this July in China over the use of the "Snow Leopard" moniker for an older version of its Mac OS X operating system. A Chinese court also forced Apple to pay an encyclopedia publisher $82,00 over App Store piracy earlier this year.
Apple has also been victim to a number of fake stores in China that elaborately ??and illegally ? mimic Apple's own popular retail locations. The stores sell actual Apple products, reportedly in cases smuggled into the country to avoid paying taxes.
Apple had a long dispute with Proview, which had previously used the name "iPAD" for a product that is no longer sold. Nearly bankrupt, Proview managed to receive $60 million from Apple for the rights to the iPad name this year.
The Apple-Proview fight over the iPad name was one dispute highlighted by Reuters on Monday in a report that revealed the Chinese government plans to get serious about trademark issues. The problems are so common that foreign governments, including the U.S., have pushed China for years to get tougher on copyright laws.
State media in China announced on Monday that the government plans to crack down on "malicious" trademark registrations. The effort would come in the form of a new proposed amendment, which will offer protection to international brands and give copyright owners the ability to ban others from registering their trademarks or using similar ones.
Other recent high-profile trademark disputes in China involve basketball great Michael Jordan, who sued a Chinese sportswear company in February, as well as French luxury group Hermes International SCA.
Apple was also sued this July in China over the use of the "Snow Leopard" moniker for an older version of its Mac OS X operating system. A Chinese court also forced Apple to pay an encyclopedia publisher $82,00 over App Store piracy earlier this year.
Apple has also been victim to a number of fake stores in China that elaborately ??and illegally ? mimic Apple's own popular retail locations. The stores sell actual Apple products, reportedly in cases smuggled into the country to avoid paying taxes.
Comments
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So they want to "crack down" on malicious trademarks? They should start in their own country where they invented malicious trademarks. Fake Apple Stores, iPhones and the likes anyone? Clean up your own mess before you start looking at others please.
Where exactly do you think the Chinese govt is going to start cracking down on trademarks?
I suspect that is what they mean. Thanks to being connected to Apple, the Proview case got hella big media and so did the cult of infringement in China. Now that companies like Foxconn are building plants in the Americas it is more feasible for companies to pull out of China in terms of sales and production jobs. China doesn't want that. So now they at least claim they are going to do something about the issue. Time will tell if they do
Quote:
Originally Posted by Chris_CA
Really?
Where exactly do you think the Chinese govt is going to start cracking down on trademarks?
Yeah, it's going to become a serious problem for them, especially as the standard of living, and thus wages, in China increases. If they don't get their intellectual property ship in order, companies will start moving manufacturing and other business out of China, especially if it becomes cheaper elsewhere, and their economy will stall out. They may finally realize that piracy and extortion just aren't a recipe for continued economic growth. They certainly aren't doing it out of any deep felt sense of right and wrong.
Originally Posted by anonymouse
They may finally realize that piracy and extortion just aren't a recipe for continued economic growth.
How can they look at international companies like Samsung and come to that conclusion? If anything, it should tell them to pirate more.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mazda 3s
Yeah right, I'll believe it when I see it
And, when I do see it, I'll believe it's about as serious as their sporadic CD/DVD bulldozing festivities.
Quote:
Originally Posted by motoservo
China will only take an active roll in IP protection when it serves their interests more than hurts it. China's approach all along has been to lie, cheat, and steal their way to the top and then to outlaw lying, cheating, and stealing once they get there.
Back in the 19th century when the US was a developing country and Dickens was the fastest-selling English-language author, the US didn't recognize UK copyrights, and his work was widely distributed in the US without royalties. It worked for the US, why not China?
We've got too many armchair lawyers here.
Trademarks exist to protect investment in a name. If you've already given up on a name, like Proview did, your rights to the name should cease. You certainly don't deserve $80 million.