Precious Lessons Learned From Hermès' Unregistered Trademark In China

Love for horses, Love for gems
Although Hermès registered its trademark in China since 1977, it had not yet registered its Chinese name 爱马仕 (Ài mǎ shì) as a trademark the Legal Evening News wrote, according to Shanghai Daily, see here.

In 1995 Dafeng Garment Factory registered a trademark 爱玛仕 (Ài mǎ shì), which is, indeed, pronounced exactly the same as the Chinese name of Hermès. 

In that year Hermès filed an objection at the Trademark Review and Adjudication Board (TRAB) of the State Administration for Industry and Commerce (SAIC). However TRAB approved Dafeng Garment Factory's registration in 2001. After that Hermès appealed at a Chinese court. 

In 2009,  Hermès again appealed to the board, saying its Chinese name enjoyed a high reputation around the world and demanding the board cancel the disputed trademark. However,  Hermès' application was rejected for a second time May 2011.

Lessons to be learned:

• Protect your trademark name together with the Chinese version of your trademark, otherwise either the public will come up with a, possibly not so positive Chinese name, or worse a competitor will take unfair advantage of your reputation and/or will confuse the public into believing that your company is the origin of the products of your competitor.
• Unregistered trademarks can be protected only if they are famous/well-known. That is famous in China, not in other countries, and not even in Hong Kong or Macau which are special administrative regions with their own jurisdiction. 
• You have to proof that your trademark is famous, before the trademark dispute. Because otherwise it is hard to proof that the public knows your trademark or that of your competitor who is using an identical or similar trademark.

Unfortunately for Hermès, the luxury good company could not convince the court that the Chinese version of its name 爱马仕 was unregistered but a famous name for some time before Dafeng Garment Factory even started using their registered trademark 爱玛仕. They used evidence that originated from the period after the dispute and they used evidence that showed that their trademark was famous to consumers in Hong Kong instead of the mainland. 

Spot the Difference In The Chinese version of the Hermès Trademark And Its Clone

爱马仕

爱玛仕

Top row: 

Hermès' unregistered trademark: 爱马仕 (Ài mǎ shì = love horse officials = officials who love horses)

Bottom row: 

Dafeng Garment Factory registered trademark: 爱玛仕 (Ài mǎ shì = love agate officials = officials who love agate). The difference is indeed, the second character which is 王 wáng (king) + 马 mǎ (horse)= 玛 mǎ (agate), a kind of gem.