"A businessman should ensure that whatever product he runs must be genuine in quality, distinct in identification and responsible for consumers," said Fu Shuangjian, Deputy Director of the State Administration for Industry and Commerce (SAIC), at the special campaign press conference on July 28. It was the first public comment on "Da Vinci Furniture" incident.

There is a widespread concern about that some native goods boast themselves as foreign brands after taking foreign-sounding product names. People were still familiar with such cases as Oudian laminate flooring claiming to be from Germany and Scient milk powder professing itself as an American brand. Media would like to report them as "fake foreign brands". Industry experts pointed out that the occurrence of "fake foreign brands" reflected the lack of exact brand awareness, an incentive for some Chinese enterprises to take the adventure.

As Fu put forward, "At present, it is hard to define the so-called 'fake foreign brands'. However, the phenomenon of native goods taking foreign-sounding product names does exist. SAIC has set up a task force to explore it."

Law allows foreign word trademark
　
According to Fu, some companies registering foreign-sounding brands were to enter international market; and some were just to cater to consumers who worshipped foreign brands. When judging from a product name, consumers usually could not identify whether a product was native or foreign. Provided that a trademark filed by a company was in line with the Trademark Law and other laws, SAIC would approve it. 　

From the perspective of trademark registration, foreign words are eligible. According to Article 8 of China's Trademark Law, any visually perceptible sign, including foreign words, shall be eligible for application for registration as a trademark. All basic information of a registered trademark, including registrant, address of registrant, application date, list of goods/services, can be found on SAIC website (http://sbcx.saic.gov.cn/trade/). Consumers can also log in to check the detailed information of a brand which they are not familiar with. 
　　
SAIC should strengthen supervision　

Fu highlighted the genuineness and fair price of a product. Under Chinese law and regulation, the origin and other related information of a product should be indicated. For furniture labelled as solid wood, it should not be made of plywood. In addition, consumers should not blindly worship foreign brands or even regard them as a fashion. Instead, many Chinese brands are also with high quality. 　　

A registered trademark should be used in conformity with laws. Registrant or the person authorized should be liable for product quality; producers and sellers should mark true product information. It is prohibited to forge or falsely use authentication marks, to forge the origin of a product, to forge or falsely use the name and address of a factory of another producer, to mix impurities or imitations into products that are produced or sold. Producers and sellers should be honest to consumers. Otherwise, they have to bear corresponding legal responsibilities.
　　
"SAIC has set up a task force to solve this problem. Our next step is to improve the methods and requirements for trademark registration and perfect supervision approaches and methods so as to make consumers enjoy qualified products," said Fu.

(Source:IPR in China)