Chinese companies should go to court to defend rights: German lawyer

MUNICH -- The German lawyer representing Wangzhihe, a century-old Chinese food brand, Thursday urged more Chinese companies to file lawsuits to protect their intellectual property rights abroad.

"They should have the courage to go to court to defend their rights," Dr. Wolfgang Festl-Wietek told Xinhua after the Munich High Court ordered Okai, a German food import and export company, to stop pirating the Wangzhihe Food Group trademark.

"This is a victory for Wangzhihe because Okai loses its trademark. In addition, it has to stop using the trademark," the lawyer said.

The Chinese food group discovered in 2006 that its trademark and logos had been pirated by Okai when it prepared to register them with the German government.

Wangzhihe, producer of a popular Chinese bean curd, filed suit against Okai in January 2007 over trademark piracy and in November of that year, a Munich court ordered Okai to stop using the company's logo and trademark.

Festl-Wietek said that during an appeal of the order Okai asked Wangzhihe to buy back the trademark.

"Okai intended to make money by selling what they had stolen. We resolutely said no," Festl-Wietek said.

More and more Chinese companies in recent years have entered overseas markets and like Wangzhihe, many of them are facing intellectual property rights problems abroad.

The Financial Times reported Wednesday that two individuals have registered at least 60 famous Chinese trademarks in Canada.

"Chinese companies are falling victim to trademark pirates abroad," the British business daily reported.

Festl-Wietek said Chinese companies should realize the importance of protecting their intellectual property rights before entering overseas markets.

"They should plan in advance. They should apply for trademark registration in time, before their products enter the European market," he said. "Not only trademarks, but also patents and designs."

In addition to the Wangzhihe brand, Okai also has registered other renowned Chinese brands such as "Baijia" bean noodles and "Jinmailang" noodles.

"So far, Baijia has contacted me," Festl-Wietek said. "They intend to get back their trademark."