Japanese media outlets including FNN Prime Online reported on Thursday that more than two companies have applied for a trademark in Chinese characters such as Shohei Otani. Both of them were reportedly applied in December last year and are currently under review. One of them is a Fujian clothing company in China that reportedly applied for a trademark in the clothing category such as T-shirts, baby clothes, hats, and socks. “I didn’t know it was a baseball player’s name,” the company told Japanese media, claiming it was a coincidence. “Otani was a self-made brand name and we added two letters (翔) at the end, but the name matched,” the company said. “If you need a trademark, please contact us. We don’t have to insist (on it),” he said. “We have intention to transfer it.” If the trademark registration is recognized, the company will have exclusive rights to clothes written “Ohtani Shohei” in China. “If a company other than a company that registered a T-shirt with four Chinese characters called ‘Ohtani Shohei’ is made and sold in China, it will be a trademark infringement,” lawyer Takayuki Yabuta said. “Considering the Chinese market, it will have a significant economic impact.”
There have been many cases of damage caused by China’s unauthorized preoccupation of trademark rights. The so-called “trademark broker” registers a popular brand or brand that is likely to emerge in a foreign country in China first, and then asks for a large amount of money in exchange for handing over the trademark right when the brand is actually trying to enter China. A case in point is 印良品 (MUJI), a Japanese household goods brand. When it tried to enter China, it was sued by a local company that had already registered its trademark, and had a legal battle, but lost the case. In one case, former NBA player Michael Jordan won a nine-year legal battle against 喬丹 Sports, a Chinese sports goods company that stole his name.
EJ SONG
US ASIA JOURNAL
