China revokes 'humiliating' trademark
Amid worsening Sino-Japanese political ties, China has decided to revoke a Japanese co's trademark.
By PTI |
BEIJING: Amid worsening Sino-Japanese political ties, China said it will revoke a Japanese company's registration of a "humiliating" trademark for a medicinal product.
The trademark bureau of the State Industry and Commerce Administration announced yesterday that it would officially revoke the Japanese company's trademark in line with China's Law of Trademark regulations which stipulates that "symbols that express national discrimination must not be registered as trademarks."
The Japanese Fukumi Industrial Co Ltd submitted an application on January 2, 2004 to register a trademark called "Sanguang" for its medicinal products on the China's mainland.
According to some ancient Chinese books and records the word means the sun, the moon and the star in Chinese, Xinhua news agency reported.
But it also reminds Chinese people of the Sanguang Zhengce, a brutal policy implemented by the Japanese invaders in China during the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression (1937-1945), meaning to burn all, kill all and grab all.
The company application was published in the bureau's bulletin on May 28, 2006. If it had passed the three-month bulletin period, the trademark would have become legal.
The application by the Japanese company aroused massive indignation in China. Major websites saw more than 10,000 postings demanding that the trademark be revoked.
The bureau made a preliminary decision to revoke the trademark on August 18, 2006, the report said.
Sino-Japanese ties have received serious setbacks in the wake of Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's repeated visits to the World War II-linked Yasukuni Shrine. China condemned Koizumi for the visit, accusing the senior Japanese leader of hurting Chinese people's feelings.
The Yasukuni Shrine, established in 1869 under Emperor Meiji, honours 2.5 million Japanese war dead including 14 class-A war criminals responsible for the most atrocious crimes during Japan's war of aggression against its Asian neighbours during World War II.
The trademark bureau of the State Industry and Commerce Administration announced yesterday that it would officially revoke the Japanese company's trademark in line with China's Law of Trademark regulations which stipulates that "symbols that express national discrimination must not be registered as trademarks."
The Japanese Fukumi Industrial Co Ltd submitted an application on January 2, 2004 to register a trademark called "Sanguang" for its medicinal products on the China's mainland.
According to some ancient Chinese books and records the word means the sun, the moon and the star in Chinese, Xinhua news agency reported.
But it also reminds Chinese people of the Sanguang Zhengce, a brutal policy implemented by the Japanese invaders in China during the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression (1937-1945), meaning to burn all, kill all and grab all.
The company application was published in the bureau's bulletin on May 28, 2006. If it had passed the three-month bulletin period, the trademark would have become legal.
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The application by the Japanese company aroused massive indignation in China. Major websites saw more than 10,000 postings demanding that the trademark be revoked.
The bureau made a preliminary decision to revoke the trademark on August 18, 2006, the report said.
Sino-Japanese ties have received serious setbacks in the wake of Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's repeated visits to the World War II-linked Yasukuni Shrine. China condemned Koizumi for the visit, accusing the senior Japanese leader of hurting Chinese people's feelings.
The Yasukuni Shrine, established in 1869 under Emperor Meiji, honours 2.5 million Japanese war dead including 14 class-A war criminals responsible for the most atrocious crimes during Japan's war of aggression against its Asian neighbours during World War II.
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