Per reporter: Duan Siyao Per reporter Per reporter: Pei Jianru
According to the relevant information of the China Trademark Network of the Trademark Office of the State Intellectual Property Office, the "landing ship" trademark originally attributed to Great Wall Motor Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Great Wall Motor) was officially transferred to BYD Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as BYD) on February 1, 2022.
Image source: China Trademark Network, Trademark Office of the State Intellectual Property Office
It is understood that the "landing ship" is an MPV model of the BYD Marine Network warship series, which is expected to be listed next year. Judging from the information released so far, the landing ship will be benchmarked against GL8 in size, providing two power types of plug-in hybrid and pure electricity, and the price will be in the range of 200,000 to 300,000 yuan.
In fact, this is not the first time that two companies have transferred their trademarks. As early as January 2016, BYD filed an application for the registration of the "Wei" trademark, which was subsequently transferred to Great Wall Motors in 2021. At that time, Great Wall Motors said it would transfer other registered trademarks to BYD. No wonder some netizens joked: "This is also a courtesy exchange." ”
Tank trademark still not registered?
While the exchange of trademarks between Great Wall Motors and BYD was rumored to be a good story, the trademark registration of the former's tank brand was quite difficult. The "Daily Economic News" reporter learned through the inquiry of the China Trademark Network that the trademarks such as "Tank Car", "Tank SUV" and "Tank 300" applied for by Great Wall Motor are still in the state of rejection and review, or the application is rejected and not accepted.
Image source: Per reporter Duan Siyao photographed (data map)
According to Article 30 of the Trademark Law, "if a trademark applied for registration does not conform to the relevant provisions of this Law or is identical or similar to a trademark that has been registered or preliminarily approved on the same or similar goods or similar goods to others, the Trademark Office shall reject the application and shall not publish it." ”
For more than two years, the status of multiple trademarks registered by Great Wall Motors related to "tanks" has shown "invalid". The failure to register the relevant trademarks has led to rumors that the tank brand may be renamed. In this regard, tank brand insiders have told reporters: "Great Wall Motor tank series trademark is being applied for, and related work is being promoted in an orderly manner." ”
A lawyer said: "Without the protection of the trademark law, the relevant trademark name of the tank brand increases the risk of being preemptively registered by other companies." If another enterprise is successfully registered first, the registrant has the right to sue the enterprise using the trademark. ”
According to Article 57 of the Trademark Law, "the use of a trademark identical to a registered trademark on the same kind of goods without the permission of the trademark registrant shall infringe upon the exclusive right to use a registered trademark." ”
At present, the popularity of tank brand models in the terminal consumer market remains high. According to official data, by the end of 2021, 220,000 tank 300 orders had been lined up, and the final delivery volume for the whole year was about 84,600 units.
The awareness of trademark protection of car companies is increasing
Whether it is the exchange of trademarks between the Great Wall and BYD, or the twists and turns of the registration of tank trademarks, it shows that the awareness of trademark protection of automobile companies is increasing. Prior to this, due to the lack of attention to trademark protection, some car companies had gone to court over trademark disputes.
In 2014, GAC Passenger Vehicles and Changan Automobile "collided", but it was not the "G Standard" currently used by GAC Passenger Vehicles, but the "V Standard" designed and registered at the beginning of the establishment of GAC Passenger Vehicles, which is very similar to the logo used by Changan Automobile. Finally, after consultation, the two sides reached a transfer agreement, and GAC Passenger Vehicle transferred the right to use the trademark for 3 million yuan, and announced that all the expenses would be invested in public welfare undertakings.
Image source: Per reporter Li Xing photographed (data map)
According to China's new energy vehicle trademark registration data, as of the end of 2019, nearly 70% of enterprises producing new energy vehicles have not registered trademarks, and the completion rate of trademark registration applications is only 1%. According to the Annual Report on Intellectual Property Rights in the Chinese Automotive Industry 2020 (Automotive Intellectual Property Blue Book 2020), from 2009 to 2019, the compound annual growth rate of the number of patent ownership and infringement dispute cases in the automotive industry was 36.38%, which is the fastest growing type of intellectual property cases in the automotive industry.
From a marketing point of view, trademarks are intangible assets for brands, which have a great role in promoting brand recognition and brand loyalty. In addition to protecting their own brand trademarks, car companies are also keen to preemptively register some trend trademarks. For example, Ideal Automobile, SAIC Motor, Weilai Automobile, Xiaopeng Automobile, etc. have preemptively registered the "Meta-Universe" trademark.
Cao Guangping, an independent researcher of new energy and intelligent networked vehicles, said in an interview with the media that there is objectively some overlap in the connotation and extension of intelligent networking and advanced display technology between the metacosm and the car, but the key depends on whether there is core hardware and software technology support. All virtual augmented reality and interactive technology, in the end, are not completely virtual, of which the most real hardware and software and content, whether to meet the needs of users, whether to achieve technology and level leadership, for users and enterprises is the most important and has practical significance.
Daily economic news