P&G Fails to Enjoin Namesake Registration

Procter & Gamble Company's (P&G)battle with Trademark Review and Adjudication Board (TRAB) under the State Administration for Industry and Commerce (SAIC) and the third party, Xianyang Lianzhitang Health Care Products Co., LTD.(Lianzhitang) for improper registration of trademark was rejected by Beijing No.1 Intermediate Court recently.

Lianzhitang filed for registration of "莎萱" as trademark in 2002 and attained approval on using all of them on Chinese herbal pills medicine and other goods. P&G then challenged the trademark before the Trademark Office ( TMO) and later brought the case before the TRAB for reexamination on the ground of imitation of a P&G's prior-registered trademark with high reputation. On May 17, 2010, TRAB approved registration of "莎萱" after deliberation.

Disgruntled with the ruling by the TRAB, P&G then brought the case to the court. The Beijing No.1 Intermediate Court held that P&G failed to prove that its trademark "沙宣" (pronounced same with "莎萱" in Chinese) has become well-known mark through extensive promotion and use. Thus the third part's copy and imitation of others' well-known mark is not an act of copying other's well-known mark.