Jocelyn Ford of Marketplace Public Radio reports about a Chinese Trademark squatter, a lawyer called Hou Songlin, who registered the PBS logo, never mind that PBS is an American non-profit organization facing budget cuts from US Congress.
Trademark lawyer Joe Simone of Baker & McKenzie was interviewed:
““Every week there’s numerous, obvious examples of piracy. On average we’ll find 15 or 20 of companies that we know.” But he says few companies pay ransom. Most lodge a complaint and that can stop the logo from being used in China for as long as eight years.“
Simone’s explanation on how this is possible, you can see here.
According to Chinese law, PBS has until August to challenge the registration.
Hou Songlin (translated): “It’s easy to make Chinese angry. And when we get angry we want revenge. If you file a complaint. I will never sell it to you!“
Read or listen to this story, here.
Law firm Harris & Moure has a primer on Chinese trademark registration, urging foreign companies to register before they are entering China, see here.
