The well-known Great Wall wine brand is allegedly being used illegally by two companies, the China National Cereals, Oils and Foodstuffs Corporation claimed on Friday. 

The national corporation that owns the trademark wants 100 million yuan (US$12 million) compensation from the Beijing Jiayu East Wine Company and the Nanchang Kaixin Food Company in East China's Jiangxi Province.

The defendants claim that their trademark Jiayu Changcheng named after a section of the Great Wall was not similar to the Great Wall logo. They said their trademarks either had not been used for years or their registration certificates did not cover wine. The first hearing on this matter was held on Friday at the Beijing High People's Court. No judgment was reached.

The plaintiff wants the court to force the defendants to stop using their brand name and make a public apology.

Ahead of Friday's hearing, the court ordered the defendants to stop producing and selling Jiayu Changcheng.

Jiayu Changcheng branded wine worth 10 million yuan (US$1.2 million), as well as another brand of wine and distilled spirits worth the same amount were seized, according to the defendants.

"The logo on Jiayu Changcheng wine confused consumers, resulting in massive economic losses for the plaintiff," Chen Jianmin, a lawyer representing the national corporation said in court.

According to initial statistics, the annual sales volume of Jiayu Changcheng reached more than 4,000 tons in the domestic market, the lawyer said.

"The defendants' illegal income has exceeded 100 million yuan (US$12 million) in the past years," she said. The national corporation registered the Great Wall trademark in 1974 and registered another in 2000, according to Chen. She emphasized that the Trademark Office of the State Administration for Industry and Commerce refused the application from Su Cheng, chairman of both of the accused companies, for the Jiayu Changcheng trademark.

"The character of Jiayu Changcheng was used as a commodity name, instead of a trademark," said Zhen Qinggui, a lawyer representing the Jiayu East company and the Nanchang Kaixin Food Company, which authorized the Beijing-based company to produce and sell Jiayu Changcheng wine. The defendants applied to the Trademark Office of the State Administration for Industry and Commerce on Thursday to withdraw the Great Wall trademark acquired in 1974 by the plaintiff.

The office took up the application on the day, according to Zhen.

"The trademark has not been used for three years. Thus it should be withdrawn according to the Trademark Law," he said.

(China Daily February 19, 2005)