Chinese Pharmaceutical Factory Wins Trademark Dispute Against A German CompanyChongqing Peidu Pharmaceutical Factory becomes the winner of a five-year-long trademark dispute against a German multinational company -- Parke-Davis GmbH.Chongqing Peidu Pharmaceutical Factory finally has the right to register its trademark formed by two Chinese characters and two English letters -- "pd" -- in a logo form. This was announced by the trademark examination and commenting committee under the State Administration for Industry and Commerce. At the end of 1994 and in November of 1996, Parke-Davis GmbH entrusted the Shanghai Office for Patent Trademark Affairs demur against the trademark of the Chongqing factory. The German company said the trademark "PD" it uses has been registered internationally including China, and the logo "pd" used by the Chongqing factory in its trademark is almost the same as that of the "PD" trademark except the fact that one is written in small letters and the other is capitalized. The German company said consumers can be confused by such trademarks because both of them are used on the commodities of the same category. The German company petitioned that the Chongqing factory's trademark be revoked. The Chongqing factory said its trademark is unitary and no part of the trademark can be taken away. The trademark examination and commenting committee said the trademark of the German company is composed by capitalized, interlaced and overlapped "PD" with a circle around them, which is quite different with the trademark of the Chongqing factory, and consumers can distinguish between them. Chongqing Peidu Pharmaceutical Factory produces more than 20 varieties of prepared Chinese medicines, some of the products are exported to Hong Kong, Taiwan and southeast Asian countries. |
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