经济学人:中国商标:着手解决本土品牌商标侵权纠纷(2)

 Since 2014, a Chinese food-and-beverage giant has fought to invalidate the registration¹ of its trademark² in Britain by a British citizen of Chinese descent. 自2014年其，一家中国食品饮料巨头就一直诉求将一名拥有中国血统的英国人在英国注册的商标无效化。

Like their Western counterparts, however, Chinese firms are finding registrations³ by others hard to overturn. 但就像西方被侵占商标的公司一样，中国公司发现他人注册的情形难以逆转。

Jani Kaulo of Kolster, a Finnish intellectual-property firm that represented Wanda, 万达轮胎集团的代表—芬兰知识产权公司Kolster的Jani Kaulo表示

says that is partly because they have been slipshod in storing files to prove a first-to-use right. 部分原因是因为他们没有好好保管档案，因此难以证明自己的初次使用权。

This should have been easy: Wanda had been selling its tyres in Europe since 2006. 这本是一件简单的事：万达轮胎集团自2006年以来就一直在欧洲销售其轮胎。

But it failed in its appeal at the European Union Intellectual Property Office, thus losing its main brand in the EU market. 但公司在欧盟知识产权局败诉，因此失去了其在欧盟市场的主要品牌。

Trademark offices approach complaints from Chinese brands with an attitude shaped by the relentless⁴ squatting⁵ by Chinese trolls on European ones, adds Mr Kaulo. Kaul还称，中国故意对欧洲公司进行无情的商标侵占，因而欧盟知识产权局在处理中国品牌投诉时的态度也受此影响。

Compounding this is the weak position of Chinese-character trademarks⁶ abroad. 在此处境中海外中文商标处于弱势。

In the EU only their visual component⁷ is recognised in trademark law, not their pronunciation or their conceptual meaning. 在欧盟，受到商标法认可的只有商标的可视部分，而商标的发音或是它的概念意义不受认可。

That makes them easy to copy, for example with homonyms that could fool Chinese-speaking buyers abroad. 因此要抄袭商标很容易，例如同形同音异义词就可以骗过海外那些说中文的买家。

China is stepping up efforts to defend its brands. After the CTA setup a committee to protect trademarks abroad in April, Nantong, a coastal⁸ city, 中国正在加强对其品牌的保护。四月，CTA成立委员会保护外海商标后，海岸城市南通

established its own office and nearby Shanghai announced that it would, too. 在上海附近成立自己的办公室并宣布也会保护其海外商标。

The Chilean toy case was among the first set of brand-infringement warnings released by the Chinese government in 2017. 智利玩具案件是2017年中国政府发布的首批品牌侵权警告中的一件。

Ning Lizhi, a legal expert who worked on the dispute in Chile, terms the case an "unusual and significant" one, 在智利参与该案件的法学专家宁立志把这个案件称为一起“不同寻常且有意义”的案件，

which was resolved when the Indian-Chilean businessman agreed to become a reseller for the Shantou toymakers in Chile. 这名印度-智利商人同意成为汕头玩具商们在智利的中间商，这个案件也解决了。

Given the ease and speed of the settlement, Mr Kaulo reckons that China's government must have intervened. 考虑到这个案件如此轻易快速地被解决，Kaulo预测中国政府一定进行了干涉。

Might greater concern for its own brands prod⁹ China into playing fairer with those of others? 对自己品牌的日益关切会让中国和其他那些公司更加公平行事么？

Its leaders have already been threatening tougher intellectual property protections. 其领导层已经威胁要执行更加强硬的知识产权保护。

Last year three Chinese shoemakers were told to pay 10m yuan ($1.5m) to New Balance, an American footwear company, for copying its logo. 去年三家中国鞋业制造商因使用美国鞋类制造商纽拜伦生物商标而被要求向其支付一千万人民币（150万美元）。

In August the Lego Group won a case against Lepin, a Chinese toy manufacturer and copycat of its colourful brick sets, 8月乐高集团在与一家中国玩具制造商乐拼的官司中获胜，该玩具商模仿乐高彩色积木玩具，

which was made to pay damages of 15m yuan to the Danish firm. It was one of the largest trademark-related awards ever made by a Chinese court. 该公司向这家丹麦公司支付了150万元的损失。这是中国法院执行的最大商标判决案中的一件。

And in the same month two Chinese firms were ordered to stop making products using the image of Peppa Pig, in what the court called a landmark¹⁰ case. 同月，两家中国公司被要求停止利用小猪佩奇的形象生产产品，法院称这是具有里程碑意义的案件。

Swine beats swindler, then. 然后猪猪就战胜了骗子。

 

1 registration   

n.登记，注册，挂号

参考例句：

• Marriage without registration is not recognized by law.法律不承认未登记的婚姻。
• What's your registration number?你挂的是几号？

2 trademark   

n.商标；特征；vt.注册的…商标

参考例句：

• The trademark is registered on the book of the Patent Office.该商标已在专利局登记注册。
• The trademark of the pen was changed.这钢笔的商标改了。

3 registrations   

n.登记( registration的名词复数 )；登记项目；登记（或注册、挂号）人数；（管风琴）音栓配合（法）

参考例句：

• In addition to the check-in procedures, the room clerks are customarily responsible for recording advance registrations. 除了办理住宿手续外，客房登记员按惯例还负责预约登记。 来自辞典例句
• Be the Elekta expert for products registrations in China. 成为在中国注册产品的医科达公司专家。 来自互联网

4 relentless   

adj.残酷的，不留情的，无怜悯心的

参考例句：

• The traffic noise is relentless.交通车辆的噪音一刻也不停止。
• Their training has to be relentless.他们的训练必须是无情的。

5 squatting   

v.像动物一样蹲下( squat的现在分词 )；非法擅自占用（土地或房屋）；为获得其所有权；而占用某片公共用地。

参考例句：

• They ended up squatting in the empty houses on Oxford Road. 他们落得在牛津路偷住空房的境地。
• They've been squatting in an apartment for the past two years. 他们过去两年来一直擅自占用一套公寓。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 trademarks   

n.（注册）商标( trademark的名词复数 )；（人的行为或衣着的）特征，标记

参考例句：

• Motrin and Nuprin are trademarks of brands of ibuprofen tablets. Nuprin和Motrin均是布洛芬的商标。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Many goods in China have the trademarks of a panda. 中国的许多商品都带有熊猫的商标。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 component   

n.组成部分，成分，元件；adj.组成的，合成的

参考例句：

• Each component is carefully checked before assembly.每个零件在装配前都经过仔细检查。
• Blade and handle are the component parts of a knife.刀身和刀柄是一把刀的组成部分。

8 coastal   

adj.海岸的，沿海的，沿岸的

参考例句：

• The ocean waves are slowly eating away the coastal rocks.大海的波浪慢慢地侵蚀着岸边的岩石。
• This country will fortify the coastal areas.该国将加强沿海地区的防御。

9 prod   

vt.戳，刺；刺激，激励

参考例句：

• The crisis will prod them to act.那个危机将刺激他们行动。
• I shall have to prod him to pay me what he owes.我将不得不催促他把欠我的钱还给我。

10 landmark   

n.陆标，划时代的事，地界标

参考例句：

• The Russian Revolution represents a landmark in world history.俄国革命是世界历史上的一个里程碑。
• The tower was once a landmark for ships.这座塔曾是船只的陆标。