Johnson & Johnson loses trademark lawsuit in China

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Wednesday, December 24, 2003

Johnson & Johnson loses trademark lawsuit in China

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The US-based medical and health products company Johnson & Johnson has lost a six-year legal battle against a Chinese sanitary towel company which the US company claimed had copied its English-language trademark.

The First Intermediate People's Court of Beijing ruled against the US company in the legal dispute with the China Trade Mark Review and Adjudication Board under the State Administration for Industry and Commerce (SAIC).

The US company filed a lawsuit against the board last May. In its arbitration, the board ruled to allow the Chinese company to register its trademark Careful, which the US company claimed was similar to its registered trademark of CAREFREE for women's heath-care products.

The Chinese company, located in Wenzhou City, in east China's Zhejiang Province, applied to register Careful in 1997. During thefollowing six years, the US company appealed twice to the SAIC andthe board, respectively, with similarity and trademark infringement accusations. Both refused the US company's claims, arguing that Careful and CAREFREE were clearly different in pronunciation, formation and meaning, and therefore approved the Chinese company's registration.

The lawyer representing Johnson & Johnson said the company may appeal to a higher court, pending discussions with its headquarters.

The Chinese company so far has registered the Careful trademark in over 10 countries and regions. In Zhejiang Province, it has over 80 percent of the market for sanitary towel products. It also exports some of its products to Europe.

Zhang Yongshun, general manager of the Chinese company, said, "As a domestic private enterprise, we are not afraid of intellectual property lawsuits with international giants. Although the six-year dispute cost us a great deal, we paved the way for future trademark development strategy."

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