In a land where trademark violations are rife, BMW has won a lawsuit against two firms in China for registering trademarks which are similar to that of the German automaker, according to the Shanghai Daily. This ruling is the latest victory for a large foreign firm in China, where faked brands encompassing a vast range of items from clothing to electronics are widespread.
According to the Shanghai Intellectual Property Court, Zhou Leqin, one of the accused, registered Deguo Baoma Group (Int’l) Holdings Limited – which translates to German BMW Group (Int’l) Holdings Limited – along with the purchase and registration of the trademark “BMN” with a logo similar to BMW’s.
The second firm, Chuangjia, a fashion company, has products including shoes, clothing and bags applied with trademarks which evolved over the years to more closely resemble that of the German automaker’s. The accused parties infringed upon BMW’s trademarks in China by taking advantage of the automaker’s reputation, said the court.
Other carmakers have also become the subject of Chinese cloning, including Land Rover, whose Range Rover Evoque “inspired” the Landwind X7, as well as Toyota, whose Alphard was ripped off by the Ruili DoDa V8.
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That will be the beginning of strings of lawsuit if BMW gets a win against a Chinese firm. Any form of copying is an infringement of the rights of the beholder.
Must teach these “lazy” copy-cats some lesson
there is always a first step. there will be more. well done.
China – land of copycats.