Tsinghua University Filed Lawsuits in Bid to Protect Trademark

2019/05/31

Tsinghua University has filed trademark complaints against a raft of educational institutions based in East China's Jiangxi province, triggering increased discussion on protection for trademarks. The university, one of the most prestigious schools in China, applied for a trademark for the traditional Chinese characters for "Tsinghua" in 1997. The application was approved the following year. There are more than 400 companies and organizations which use "Tsinghua kindergarten" as their registered business names despite not being affiliated with the university, Beijing Youth Daily reported. Of the so-called Tsinghua kindergartens, one located in Shicheng county, Jiangxi province, is involved in the trademark cases as a defendant. The Ganzhou Intermediate People's Court in Jiangxi heard the case on May 8. The Tsinghua trademark is very popular and has been recognized as a well-known trademark, according to the university. The kindergarten has Tsinghua in its name and the unauthorized use of the trademark causes confusion, disrupting the market order and creating unfair competition, the university's attorney said. The defendant claimed that the plaintiff presented no evidence to prove that local residents would link the kindergarten with Tsinghua University which is located more than 1,000 kilometers away. On the same day, the court also sat to hear another four trademark cases with the university as the plaintiff.

Source: China Daily