While Apple Inc lost its trade mark case in China, Facebook has made headway by winning their trade mark case for its own brand name. A Chinese vegetable oil and potato chips maker called Zhongshan Pearl River registered ‘face book’ in 2014, but the courts in China have revoked the trade mark.
Why did Facebook win while Apple lost its case?
Although Facebook is blocked in China, it is still accessed by a large number of Chinese web users through VPN (Virtual Private Networks). Under Chinese trade mark laws, a global brand has to prove that its trade mark is also well known in China. In Apple’s case, the court decided that the ‘iPhone’ trade mark wasn’t well known, in China, when it was filed by the company.
Proving recognition
Facebook’s founder has been leading a charm offensive to woo Chinese government officials to allow Facebook to operate in China. The brand has been popular in the country for a while and as stated above, it has a sizable user base in the country. This has allowed Facebook to revoke the trade mark filed by the Chinese company.
The Supreme People’s Court decided that Zhongshan Pearl River had “violated moral principles” with “obvious intention to duplicate and copy from another high-profile trade mark”. Very aptly worded judgement from the Supreme People’s Court.
