The International Trademark Association held a meeting with its 65 Chinese members, mainly large companies owning famous brand names such as Tsingtao beer and Three Gun underwear, to discuss protecting trademarks and domain names and talk about China's newly revised intellectual property laws in Shanghai yesterday.
Officials from INTA said that China has greatly improved its protection of trademarks to reduce piracy and the sale of counterfeit products, and noted that the revised law increased the punishments to protect brand owners.
In the meeting, INTA warned domestic enterprises about trademark violations in cyberspace, noting that the trend of cybersqautting could get worse in China.
"We have provided professional consultation to the court to help Ikea win back its domain name in China's cyberspace in 2000, which was registered by a Beijing Company in 1997. This was the first domain name dispute in China," said Alan Drewsen, executive director of INTA.
The INTA is a global not-for-profit organization of trademark owners and advisers. It helps trademark owners to protect and advance the importance of trademarks as essential elements of international commerce.
(Shanghai Daily October 11, 2002)
|