Cui Qiang,
Manager of Legal Department, Hangzhou AUPU Bathroom & Kitchen Technology Co., Ltd.
Like many small businesses in China, AUPU in its infant year of 1993 had one thing, and one thing only, in mind, that is, to survive, by selling its products. To us, the trademark 奥普 was nothing but a word. However, with business growth and market expansion, the company began to realize the importance of trademark. It began to build a uniform VI design for its brand, and the 7 years long “aopu奥普” characteristic had been replaced by “AUPU奥普” trademark in 2000. Its Chinese and English trademark were registered in multiple classes in 2002 and 2004 respectively.
AUPU encounters trademark passing-off and counterfeit problems frequently during its development. Its bestseller product AUPU bath heater faces increasing patent infringements, and it also encounters bad-faith trademark registration. All the above problems have hindered the development of AUPU, and costed Aupu dearly.
AUPU has experienced the rapid development of China’s trademark industry. In AUPU’s eye, the trademark industry is becoming better regulated, fair and effective. Many companies are aware of trademark protection and have registered trademarks when founded. Even some municipalities in China have registered trademarks and used them in the city promotion. These are all the result of increasing public awareness of intellectual property.
However, there are certain people who, with legal and IP training, made improper gains through bad-faith registration and trademark distortion by usurping the legal loophole and people’s weak IP awareness. The number of intellectual property infringement cases increased greatly due to their improper behavior, which has wasted a lot of judicial resources. More importantly, such kind of dishonest, unfair and unjust behavior seriously affect the Chinese social value and make the situation worse.
On the other hand, improvement and perfection of the laws are urgently needed. Some of the Chinese laws can no longer meet the needs of social and economic development, especially the intellectual property laws. Making intellectual property as the cornerstone for a company’s development and moreover for the whole nation’s development is the true sense. This day, I believe, is not too far.
