Chinese Trademark Pirates are Targeting Home Brands

Zoe Liu
Rouse & Co International

(1) A Mexican lock manufacturer has been sourcing original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) in China for more than 10 years. The manufacturer became increasingly reliant on the China supply and even considered closing its Mexico plant. It decided to file the trademark in China and then found there were three prior applications and that the applicants were in the same town where their suppliers were located.

(2) A Canadian garment factory, after carefully assessing various Chinese clothing factories, decided use a Chinese OEM. In its second exportation, US$120,000 worth of garments were caught by the Chinese customs authorities – the brand had already been registered and filed with the Chinese Customs General Administration by a Chinese company.

(3) A Spanish garden tools company that occasionally used Chinese OEMs found counterfeit tools from China being sold in its home market. It planned to take action against the Chinese counterfeiter only to find that the counterfeiter owned their brand in China.