The established Chinese beancurd brand Wangzhihe vowed to "bring
the lawsuit with a German company to the end," said its general
manager on Thursday.
OKAI, a department store of Germany, was accused of illegally
registering the Wangzhihe brand in Germany. The case was heard by a
court in Munich on Wednesday, but the result was unknown yet.
Wangzhihe, started in 1678 and featured Beijing flavored
beancurd, had its brand registered by OKAI on November 21 2005.
Wangzhihe noticed that in July 2006 when it wanted to expand market
and register the brand in Germany. It filed a lawsuit against OKAI
in the court in Munich in January 2007.
According to Wang Hongqing, intellectual property consultant of
Wangzhihe, OKAI argued that the logo of Wangzhihe was "a common
portrait of Chinese ancient soldier" and the registration is
lawful.
"OKAI has been selling the products by Wangzhihe for quite some
time and it is impossible that it couldn't recognize the logo,"
Wang said, adding that the logo was designed by a Chinese professor
who had transferred the copyright to Wangzhihe in the form of
contract.
"The brand has been handed down through generations," said Wang
Jiahuai, general manager of the Wangzhihe Food Group, "we would
allow nobody to steal it away."
(Xinhua News Agency August 10, 2007)
