Bitter Taste Avoided: South Korean Zhenjiang Vinegar and Costa Rican Confucius Institute Trademarks Rejected

The State Administration for Industry and Commerce (SAIC) is vigorously protecting the trademarks of well-known Chinese companies.

In October 2010 there was an effort to register the trademark Zhenjiang Vinegar in South Korea. Zhenjiang 镇江 is a prefecture-level city located in Jiangsu province. Vinegar producers in that region use the name Zhenjiang. Wang Xin wrote in the China Daily:

-"The case began in June 2010 when the local association heard from a foreign client that a South Korean company had filed an application for the Zhenjiang Vinegar trademark in both Chinese and Korean."

-"The Korean trademark administration accepted the application and published a notice in April asking for objections the notice expired on June 23, just wees after the Chinese association became aware of the filing."

-"Just a day before the expiry date, the association filed an objection with the South Korean administration." This objection was accepted. Read Wang's article here.

In November 2010 they tried to register the Confucius Institute in Costa Rica. Read more about the Confucius Institutes, who are promoting the Chinese culture and language around the world, here.

Read Wang Huazhong's China Daily article about both cases here.