Over 400 malicious Olympics-related trademark applications got rejected by CNIPA
The Olympics is a world-super event. However, recently, the Olympics is not just known because of the sports spirits and the amazing performance but it is also highly popular in the Intellectual Property world due to the massive number of infringement cases. There have been at least over 400 malicious Olympics-related trademark applications got rejected by CNIPA.
Recently, on February 14, 2022, The China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) has announced that the office has rejected 429 applications for trademarks that involved Olympics-related names.
These applications are rejected due to the fact that they have an element that is related to the Olympics’ activities, whether it is a person or poster, etc. but do not have the consent of that subject. The main reason these applicants file their applications is to exploit the name and fame of the memorable figures of the games.
This is against the morality of the Olympics and overall, the IP system. Therefore, those applications got rejected immediately upon examination.
One of the examples is of the official mascot Bing Dwen Dwen and freestyle skiing gold medallist Eileen Gu. The CNIPA also invalidated 43 registered trademarks of similar nature, among others.
According to the data provided by CNIPA, about half of the rejected trademark applications are actually related to just 2 famous figures.
Specifically, in the 429 rejected trademark applications, 133 are related to Bing Dwen Dwen, 62 are related to its Winter Paralympics counterpart Shuey Rhon Rhon, and 13 are hybrid names between the two.
Bing Dwen Dwen is the official mascot of the 2022 Winter Olympics, and Shuey Rhon Rhon is the official mascot of the 2022 Winter Paralympics. The name of Bing Dwen Dwen possibly means ice hulu, as 墩 (Dūn) in its name is a homophone of 礅 (Dūn) in the word 糖礅 in Tianjin dialect, meaning tanghulu, the prototype of the mascot. Both events are scheduled to be held in Beijing, the capital of China.
Rejected trademark applications in China copying famous athletes
Not just the mascots, the trademark applications are also formed of famous real-life figures. There are at least 31 applications derived from the name of American-born freestyle skier Eileen Gu, who competed for China and won two gold medals and a silver medal in the 2022 Winter Olympics.
In addition to the current figures in this year’s Olympics, the trademark applications also take the idea from previous games, specifically the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics. There are 183 trademarks based on the name and nickname of diver Quan Hongchan, who won the gold medal in the individual 10-metre platform event with a record-breaking score at the age of 14.
Expert opinions
Stating about the rejection of these follow-up trademark applications, Bruce Fu, an attorney at law from GoldenGate Lawyers in Beijing, clarified that CNIPA ex officio rejected or invalidated these trademarks in accordance with Article 10.1.8 of the Trademark Law of China, which stipulates that use or registration of a trademark with adverse effect is prohibited: “The adverse effect refers to the negative effect on social public interests, or public order and good custom. CNIPA holds that those trademarks injure public interests and order. Under the trademark law, it is the most severe sanction on malicious trademark applications or registrations.”
Apart from rejections and invalidations ex officio, Fu suggested that the athletes who want to protect their own brand as they have fought so hard to achieve it can also do it themselves by actively applying to CNIPA to reject or invalidate malicious trademarks: “They attack malicious trademarks based on their prior rights, including name rights, trademark rights, copyrights, design patent rights, etc.”
As for the Olympic committee, their IP rights are additionally guarded by the regulations of China: “The Olympic committee may protect its identifiers, including Olympic logos, names, mascots, etc., pursuant to Regulations on the Protection of Olympic Symbols of China. Under the Regulations, the competent authorities may enforce against the infringement of Olympic identifiers ex officio or as per the application of the Olympic committee.”
***Other Articles***
– You could see How To Register Trademark in China here.
– You could visit here to see Procedure of Trademark in China.
– You could visit here to check Required documents of filing trademark in China.
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