Trademark Rights in China
Korean online shopping malls are reportedly having a hard time in managing their trademark rights in China.
According to industry sources, more than 75 percent of Korean shopping mall brands are suffering from similar trademarks registered in the Chinese market. Counterfeit goods disguised as Korean products are regularly sold on China’s top e-commerce website Taobao.
Since fake products spread more rapidly in China than other countries, trademark registrations are the key to secure the Chinese market. For example, brand malls which already acquired trademark rights in China are only offered space at Tmall, China’s largest online shopping website, because local customers are sensitive to counterfeit goods.
The number of Korean firms that have penetrated the market with the help of Café 24 totaled 3,900 as of March, and more than 70 percent of people who use OKdgg.com, which provides Delivery Guarantee Global (DGG) services for foreigners, are from Chinese-speaking countries.
The entry of Korean online shopping malls into the Chinese market is accelerating, and the number of trademark infringements is on the rise as well. Korean firms are also encountering difficulties in trademark registrations, and therefore online solution providers in Korea are leading the effort to help local companies register their trademarks in China.
Café 24 started to provide services for business platforms on an international scale in Sept. 2013, and its local subsidiary in Hangzhou, China handles trademark registrations and the illegal use of copyrighted images that are owned by Korean companies. To date, they have filed Chinese trademark applications for 50 firms, and have brought trademark infringement lawsuits against Chinese firms for Korean companies who already registered their trademarks in China.
An official at Café 24 explained, “Those who run online shopping malls in Korea don’t know anything about trademark laws in China. So they need a lot of time and money to resister a business and prepare for documents related to trademark registrations.” The official added, “Our company is involved in filing trademark applications in China through our local subsidiary in Hangzhou so that we can prevent damages from trademark infringement. We also provide information about trademark applications.”
MakeShop is engaged in filing trademark applications and provides trademark restoration services, after checking similar trademark rights that are already registered in China through a system linked with the China Trademark Office.