China trademark takedownsChina’s lack of an affirmative trademark use requirement allows trademark owners to register marks in more classes and covering more products and services than what they actually sell. Starbucks is a prime example of a company that has taken full advantage of this strategy by (for example) registering “STARBUCKS” as a trademark in all 45 classes of goods and services.
The benefits of registering in a whole host of China trademark classes really comes into play when dealing with infringing goods on Alibaba and other e-commerce platforms. Many of our clients have found that infringement starts with their core lineup of products but quickly moves to things they haven’t released and perhaps never will. Any consumer product is fair game for knockoff artists. If they can imagine it, or more precisely if they can imagine someone buying it, it will turn up on Alibaba.
Though Alibaba is responsive when you request a takedown for a product covered by your trademark registration, they often will decline to take action if the product is outside the scope of your registration. So if an enterprising Chinese merchant began selling Game of Thrones brand deodorant on Alibaba, HBO might only succeed with a takedown request if it had already registered a trademark covering deodorant.
Registering your trademark is the only realistic way to gain trademark protection in China, and that protection is limited by the classes and subclasses of goods and services covered by your registration. If you want protection for other products, you need to register in the appropriate classes and subclasses to cover those products.
Registering in all 45 classes is not a realistic strategy for most company. But when devising your IP strategy for China, you should think about not just the products and services you intend to sell in China, but also the ones you don’t want someone else to sell under your name.
No comments:
Post a Comment